Groping reported at British gala
Nonprofit says it will shut down following reports
LONDON — Britain’s financial
“old boys” club was rocked by scandal Wednesday after a Financial Times investigation found female hostesses were groped at a men-only charity gala.
Last week’s event at London’s Dorchester Hotel featured about 100 female hostesses who were required to wear short skirts and high heels. The hostesses included two undercover FT reporters, who described harassment, lewd comments and “repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms elsewhere in the Dorchester.”
The event, organized by a group called the Presidents Club, raised money for charities through an auction whose lots included tea with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and lunch with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Representatives for both denied knowledge of the prizes.
The Presidents Club announced Wednesday that it would shut down after distributing its remaining funds to children’s charities, and it “will not host any further fundraising events.”
One of the club’s three trustees, David Meller, resigned as an adviser to Britain’s Department for Education.
Labour Party lawmaker Jess Phillips, who brought the issue to the House of Commons, welcomed news that Meller was standing down.
“What happened is that women were bought as bait for men who were rich men, not a mile from where we stand, as if that is an acceptable behavior,” she told lawmakers.
Great Ormond Street Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital said they would return previous donations and sever ties with the Presidents Club.
The FT reported that women working at this year’s black-tie event were given short, tight, black dresses, black high heels and a black belt resembling a corset. They told of men repeatedly putting hands up their skirts and said one attendee exposed his penis to a hostess.
“Some of the behavior was pretty shocking, quite depressing, if I am honest,” reporter Madison Marriage said in a video about her work on the story.
The newspaper said the hostesses were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.