PBS chairman mum on sexual harassment claims, minister never received official complaint

PBS board Chairman Tonio Portughese has declined to comment on the allegations that former CEO John Bundy sexually harassed an employee.

In a reply to The Malta Independent, Portughese said that he is not in a position to comment on any harassment allegations which might have happened within the Company since “it is not PBS policy to comment on specific matters regarding its members of staff.”

He assured, however, that, “PBS takes such claims very seriously and has internal mechanisms which cater for such situations. It must also be stressed that the reporting to competent authorities of such a case would be subject to the wishes of the injured party, and if the injured party declares that he or she does not wish his / her case to be referred, then PBS would conduct internal investigations if the report is against a current employee of the Company,” Portughese said.

In the meantime, Minister for Culture Owen Bonnici, who is politically responsible for PBS, said that he has not “received any official complaint on alleged sexual harassment at the PBS by former CEO John Bundy.”

Both the minister and the PBS chairman were asked whether they were aware of the claims and who had informed them, how many women had claimed sexual harassment by John Bundy and whether any action had been taken by the board. They were also asked whether they had gone to the police.

The Malta Independent on Sunday had been informed by sources close to PBS that a female PBS employee had signed an affidavit in which she alleged that Bundy had made two sexual advances toward her. The affidavit alleges that Bundy had also threatened her that she would lose her job if she spoke up about the alleged sexual misconduct.

When approached for comment, Bundy “categorically denied” the allegations.

“What I can say is that this is an absolute calumny. I can say this without even knowing the full allegations that you say have not been levelled against me, nor do I even need that information because nothing of the sort ever took place.

“What you are saying is being alleged absolutely never happened and I challenge anyone who is confronting me in this way to prove otherwise, which is something no one can do because it is completely untrue, it is not even remotely close to the truth,” he said.

Outspoken John Bundy was recently interviewed on The Malta Independent’s INDEPTH programme, where he announced that he would be suing PBS on his recent dismissal.

The PBS board had said in a statement that Bundy was sacked because he had ‘breached procurement regulations’ when he awarded a €500,000 car leasing contract. The board had met to discuss a report drawn up by RSM auditors.

On INDEPTH, Bundy insisted that no PBS official had ever warned him that he was breaching regulations. He also denied having sidelined company officials, insisting he was always accompanied when he met with the car leasing company.

A director at Burmarrad Commercials also confirmed with this newspaper that Bundy had always been accompanied by three managers from the state broadcaster for meetings about the leasing of vehicles.

During the programme, Bundy also said that he had met with the Prime Minister but was not offered anything. He also said he has no intention of going back to Net television.