A "leading businessman" in the UK accused of sexual harassment by several women employees cannot be named by the media due to a court order, in what is dubbed as the latest British #Metoo scandal.
The prominent company chief won a UK Court of Appeal case on Tuesday preventing 'The Daily Telegraph' newspaper revealing "alleged sexual harassment and racial abuse of staff" following an eight-month investigation.
The newspaper said accusations against the businessman, who cannot be identified due to the court injunction, would have reignited the #MeToo movement against the mistreatment of women by powerful employers in Britain.
However, the three Appeal Court judges concluded that the five staff making the claims had been "compromised by settlement agreements" and had received "substantial" payouts to stay silent.
The issue was also raised in the House of Commons on Wednesday and while Prime Minister Theresa May refused to comment on the case directly, she told Parliament that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) should not be used to silence whistleblowers.
"Non-disclosure agreements cannot stop people from whistle blowing, but it is clear that some employers are using them unethically," she said.
She assured the House that the government would consult on whether the regulation around NDAs could be improved, so employers and employees were aware when an NDA did not apply or could not be enforced.
The senior business executive in question, alongside another senior executive as well as managers at two companies in the wider group, had taken legal action in a bid to stop the UK-based newspaper from publishing the story.
In August, a high court judge had refused to rule in favour of the executives named as "ABC and others". But they challenged this in the Court of Appeal, which overturned the high court ruling this week.
The court of appeal granted an interim injunction on publication of the details, pending a full trial in the case. It has ordered that the matter should proceed to a "speedy trial".
The #MeToo movement has become a worldwide social media campaign since last year after revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's harassment of several actresses hit the headlines.
Since then, there has been a wave of revelations over the mistreatment of women by powerful employers in various industries around the world, including in India.
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