Mohamed El Fayed

I think most of the women it was their first role as they were so young. What I understood from the documentary was that they were sent for a medical but it was not explained what the medical would cover. IIRC correctly one of them expressed surprise at a smear test being part of the process.

Awful.
But how desperate would you be for the job to undergo the invasive medical tests? Let's hope they catch up with the medics who did this.

Zelda Perkins fronts a campaign to get NDAs banned.

The bbc stopped using them a year ago in the light of the Russel Brand allegations.

"He was a monster aided by a system."

I've just heard on radio 4 world at one.

The system always enables abusers.

"I have never seen a case as horrific as this"

He was compared with Weinstein, Savile, and Epstein

It sounds absolutely horrific. I'm so sorry for the survivors. They are so very brave

Jesus, the medical exams

I applied for Saturday retail job at Harrods and Harvey Nichols imtowards end of 80's Worked at Harvey Nicks and was talking to someone about how I had applied and been offered a job at Harrods and I was told then I was lucky I hadn't gone there as he was a groper and that they had to line up to be inspected by him.

My first job was in Harrods when I was a young teen. Despite it being a short contract of 6 weeks over Christmas in the food halls I was trained for a week and we all watched hilarious John Cleese films about how not to talk to the customer. The service was impeccable and the food halls utterly beautiful.
There was a saying that the customer was always right and Harrods could fulfill all their needs from a mouse to an elephant.
We had everyone in, from millionaires who bought out all the caviar in one swoop to the tiny woman with leprosy who I used to gift wrap individual choclates for.
And for the 70s it was incredibly diverse from the 7ft Ghanian with a fro in the dried fruit department to the Omar Shariff look a like in nuts...I lurved him ;)

It was really hard work standing on those hard marble floors , 8am to 8pm and 1/2 an hour for lunch 6 days a week for £40 , more than 100,000 customers a day went through at xmas.
And then just after it was sold to him and it all slid into the most tacky crassness.
It was heartbreaking seeing such a beautiful institution disintergrate.
And the same has happened to Libertys.
I wish we hadnt sold off so much of our heritage from Harrods to Royal Mail. Our country is not remotely better for it, its now just branding without substance like every other corp.
Anyway, none of this suprises me in the slightest, the writing was on the wall immediately with Fayed.

Well ex colleague was sacked, no idea of her reference, but she got a job with the publishing firm I was with at that point, so I guess the reference was fine. But she was happy to spill the beans, we were all early 20s at the time (99 or so), so it was recent to her joining us.

I guess if a female refused his advances and left the shop she would be afraid of a bad reference.

Just thinking as I write, what would happen if she refused a luxury few days away ?

I felt sorry for him loosing his son but I must say each time I saw his face on TV or news I thought he was an unpleasant person

I think that's how I feel about it tbh.

I am not surprised.

Agree with a ban on NDAs.

This controlling shit went on all the time, probably still does.

I went for an interview at a boring accounting firm, fat ugly old men, dusty office, dreary suburb, and was told to wear a skirt to the interview. I wore trousers as that was my comfort zone and normal work wear. I got a bollocking from the accountants through the agency (who should have known better but it's all about the commission).

Well he’s certainly not Mr.Selfridge! (Late to the party and enjoying the series).
Mr. Selfridge is idealised of course, but I bet he wasn’t like this.

I'm surprised anyone's surprised. This has been known about for decades.

I worked in Harrods in the mid 00s and heard about all this stuff. Fortunately I wasn't his type and was stashed away in a non-glamorous department. The management there even let me off the four inch heels, red lipstick etc uniform code. But the 'mandatory uniform' list for women was something else! Full make up including lip LINER!

I think NDAs should be banned. Rich men are able to use them to cover up their crimes.

Completely agree.

And to think I felt sorry for the man after watching The Crown.

Sick abusive piece of dirt. I hope he rests in chaos...too bad I don't believe in hell cause I'd like to imagine him there.

Another filthy pervert.

I am so sick of this. One headline after another, and yet more revolting men in my local news today too.

Not surpised, he looks like a perve.

Like Jimmy Savile, he got away with it all his life.

He was a very well known lech back in the day with a preference for young blonde women.

Also, if he thought your face didn't fit he would sack you on the spot. Managers took to redeploying staff in other departments rather than actually sack them it went on that much.

I don't think anyone would be surprised to read this. It was always quite obvious what type of man he was.

I still wonder what it was in his past back in Egypt that stopped him ever getting a British passport. With all his money and legal expertise at his command.

An ex colleague had worked there in the late nineties and said the same. He'd call young female staff into his office and offer them bonuses. She read between the lines and declined. Was sacked shortly after

No surprise at all, but awful for the women involved. I wonder how many women he actually assaulted. I bet the true number is staggering.

A friend who provided some professional services to MFs business back in the 90s, was told by female members of staff that he expected to exercise a sort of "droit de seigneur" over the women he employed.

Yes I recognise this. They were very strict with appearance. I had to wear a full face of makeup and red lipstick. We had a uniform in the perfumery which consisted of a pencil skirt and blouse and we had to wear sheer tights and heels. That was hell when you were on your feet so much and particularly on days you had to do restocks from the stockroom which was miles away. I remember a heavily pregnant lady being reprimanded for wearing a low heel because she really couldn't wear 4 inch heels all day. You weren't allowed to sit either. The whole department attracted stalkers too. I had one who used to come and stand in the archway near my counter every Saturday and stare me. I never left the store alone, especially on late shifts.

Not surprising at all unfortunately.

I’ve just read that he subjected women applying yo Harrods to invasive medical exams which were believed to be STI tests. And the women didn’t even get the results back, they went straight to Al Fayad. What the fuck? Why would anyone need to know the sexual health of an employee unless they were going to sleep with them.

Grim!