A group of lawyers representing 37 women in the case against the department store have stated that any non-disclosure agreements signed would not stop them from getting justice for the women involved.
Barristers Dean Armstrong KC (Maitland Chambers), Bruce Drummond (New Bailey Chambers), and Maria Mulla (Maitland Chambers) revealed at a press conference on Friday that they would be focusing on individual claims made against Harrods on behalf of each of their clients.
Al-Fayed, who died last year aged 94, has been accused of raping five women during his 25-year tenure at the top of Harrods, with at least 15 other women claiming to have been sexually assaulted by him.
The case remains at the investigation stage and no claims have been issued yet. Mulla stated that the situation involves victims from across the world:
“There are lots of different potential elements to this, potential jurisdictional elements that need to be considered.
“Whilst we accept and we know we have an obligation to act diligently and properly, we are still very much investigating.”
The claims will look to focus on Harrods’ ‘systemic failure of corporate responsibility’, with Dean Armstrong KC stating that nothing was off the table when it came to bringing justice to this case. When asked about NDAs that had been signed by former Harrods employees, he said:
“It should never be the case, and I am not of a view that it is the law, that the law should protect those who engage and indulge in criminal activities.
“It is very important to remember the circumstances in which those NDAs and some settlements were given. There was no level playing field. We will fight for their voracity and their applicability.”
He continued: ‘It is certainly not the case that we are not pursuing other parties. We are not ruling anything out. Why the focus on Harrods? This was systemic trafficking of women for sexual gratification.”
A statement from Harrods given to the BBC for their use in the documentary, ‘Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods’, read as follows:
“We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms. We also acknowledge that during this time as a business we failed our employees who were his victims and for this we sincerely apologise.
“While we cannot undo the past, we have been determined to do the right thing as an organisation, driven by the values we hold today, while ensuring that such behaviour can never be repeated in the future.”
It’s a shocking statistic that everyone who cares about the people in our profession – and the future of the Bar...
