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Women who allege Mohamed Al Fayed sexually assaulted them have raised concerns about the handling of Harrods’ settlement process for claims against the late owner of the department store, leading to a number quitting the scheme.
Concerns over potential conflicts of interest and poor communication have led four women to discontinue the process, they told the Financial Times. They are now considering legal action against Harrods over their experiences with Al Fayed, they added, which may include claims alleging personal injury, psychiatric damage and loss of employment opportunities.
Two of those women claimed that during initial communications Harrods had not been sufficiently transparent with them about the employment history of a consultant handling their claims.
Harrods is using an external consultant to liaise with alleged victims and interview them if they would prefer to speak to someone rather than rely on written statements.
The consultant previously worked in Harrods’ HR team for over a decade until summer 2023. Two of the women who spoke to the FT and who had spoken with the consultant said the person’s previous employment by the department store should have been disclosed to them at the outset of the calls.
The consultant started working in Harrods’ HR team after Al Fayed sold the company, and previously worked on the shop floor at the department store when it was under his ownership.
Harrods said in a statement: “Those conducting the Harrods process are fully transparent about their role and qualifications.
“The individual in question is specifically trained in sexual abuse support, and in our view is absolutely the right person to represent the business in supporting claimants at the first stage of this process.”
The settlement process is advertised on Harrods’ website and potential claimants must contact the company, which has Harrods branding, to pursue a claim. An automated email sent from Harrods sets out that the company needs “to obtain more information from you in order to manage your claim”.
One of the women also claimed she had repeatedly been denied a recording of her interview after complaining that a transcript of the conversation was incomplete. Harrods cited a privacy policy to her for not disclosing the recording and offered for the woman to listen to the tape at her lawyer’s office provided she did not record it, according to emails.
Harrods is facing hundreds of complaints from women who claim to have been sexually assaulted by its former owner after the BBC broadcast the allegations in a documentary and podcast last month. Al Fayed, who died last year, owned Harrods between 1985 and 2010. His son Dodi was killed alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, in a Paris car crash in 1997.
The Knightsbridge department store is now owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, which also has a stake in UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s.
Other complaints about the process from the women the FT spoke to include the fact that the email address Harrods used to contact them contained Al Fayed’s name. Harrods has amended the email address in recent weeks.
Harrods said that it “designed its settlement process with the needs of survivors at its heart [ . . .] to date this has resulted in approximately 30 conversations from over 250 people active in our process”.
“While we are aware that a small number of individuals have decided not to continue dealing with Harrods directly, we are encouraged that others involved in the process have provided extremely positive feedback,” the company added.
After the BBC documentary aired, the Harrods group said it had accepted “vicarious liability for the conduct of Al Fayed” in order to settle claims that had been brought to Harrods’ attention since 2023, adding it had “reached settlements with the vast majority of people” who approached it.
It declined to comment on the amount paid to women who alleged sexual misconduct.
In a statement on its website in response to the documentary the group said it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations, and added that “during this time his victims were failed and for this we sincerely apologise”.
The Metropolitan Police said this month that it had received 40 fresh allegations related to Al Fayed, including of rape and sexual assault, dating from 1979 to 2013.
“Any settlement process needs to be independent and transparent,” said Maria Mulla, a barrister at Maitland Chambers who is now representing three of the women who spoke to the FT, as part of the Justice for Harrods Survivors Group. “This is crucial when Harrods is undertaking its own internal investigation, and the police are openly investigating matters.”
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