Nannies and air hostesses accuse Mohamed al-Fayed of sexual abuse
Law firm Leigh Day has sent pre-action letters to Mr Fayad's estate on behalf of two former air hostesses who worked for his luxury air carrier Fayair, and three of the family's former nannies.
The five women claim they suffered 'serious sexual abuse, harassment and mistreatment' while working for the Egyptian billionaire between 1995 and 2012.
The women allege they also faced verbal abuse and threats when they tried to raise concerns about the mistreatment. All of the women, whose cases have not been publicly reported before, have chosen to stay anonymous.
The group are seeking compensation for the alleged abuse, and have called for an independent public inquiry into the business mogul and his brother Salah al-Fayed, who has also been accused of abuse. Mr Fayed died in 2010.
Richard Meeran, partner at Leigh Day, said: 'We have taken this step on behalf of those of our clients who were abused by Mr Fayed while working for him or his other businesses outside of Harrods.
'Our clients took on roles as professionals and should have been able to expect a safe working environment, instead they were subjected to serious sexual abuse, harassment and mistreatment.'
The lawsuits come as Harrods, the Knightsbridge department store Mr Fayed bought in 1985, faces a string of allegations of sexual misconduct by the businessman made by former employees.
Mr Fayed, who died in 2023 aged 94, is accused of multiple counts of rape and attempted rape by women who worked at Harrods.
Allegations include claims Mr Fayed sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl inside Harrods' boardroom. Another woman who worked as Mr Fayed's personal assistant claimed the businessman raped her in his luxury apartment that overlooked London's Hyde Park.
Mr Meeran said: 'Much of the media reporting around Mr Fayed's decades of depraved and predatory behaviour has centred around his work at Harrods, but it is important that his estate is also made legally accountable for the widespread abuse he perpetrated against those who may never have had dealings with the famous store.'
Women who worked for Mr Fayed's other ventures, including Fulham FC and the Ritz Hotel Paris, have also alleged they were sexually abused by the Egyptian billionaire.
Harrods itself, which is now owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, has said it has settled with more than 250 former employees who allege they were abused.
The Knightsbridge store has also reportedly increased the maximum amounts it is offering in compensation to ex-Harrods staff who were abused by Mr Fayed, from sums of £330,000 to £400,000, Sky News reported on Sunday.
Commenting on the new compensation scheme, a Harrods spokesperson said: 'It would be premature for us to comment on the nature and details of a scheme that is currently under consultation.
'We are actively inviting the valuable input from survivors and their legal representatives to establish the final scheme that aims to be survivor-first, trauma-informed, and fair in its approach to compensation. Further updates will be provided once the consultation period is complete.'
Lawyers for Mr Fayed's estate were contacted for comment.
Al-Fayed was born the son of a school inspector in Alexandira, Egypt in 1929. He started his career selling fizzy drinks on the streets of his home city before branching out to furniture and shipping.
The Egyptian tycoon moved to London in 1964, where he cultivated linked to British high society including the Royals.
Mr Fayed acquired Harrods for £615m in 1985. He sold it to the Qatari royal family for a reported £1.5bn in 2010.
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LONDON, Ont. — Just weeks before five professional hockey players were charged with sexual assault in 2024, in what would become one of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent memory, the Crown attorney warned the complainant that it was 'not a really, really strong case.' On Thursday in front of a packed but silent courtroom, Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia delivered a stinging rebuke of that case in a 90-page decision read over almost five hours, picking apart the prosecution's arguments and completely rejecting the testimony of the complainant , known to the public as E.M. due to a publication ban on her identity. In doing so, Carroccia acquitted 2018 Canadian world junior champions and ex-NHL players Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, and Cal Foote of sexually assaulting E.M. in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in the early hours of June 19, 2018, when she was 20 years old. McLeod was also acquitted of being a party to a sexual assault, for allegedly encouraging his world juniors teammates to engage in sexual activity with E.M. when he knew she wasn't consenting. 'I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable,' Carroccia said right off the top, an early signal of the verdicts to come. 'With respect to the charges before the court, having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me.' Someone in the courtroom could be heard loudly whispering 'yes'; some of the players turned to their families in the public gallery, where McLeod's parents and Hart's mother, in attendance throughout the trial, appeared emotional. And so concluded a case that had captured the country's attention, sparked a reckoning about the handling of sexual misconduct in professional sports, and raised awareness about the meaning of consent in sexual encounters . A composite image of London police Det. Steve Newton's handwritten notes on the complainant's comments during a June 2018, photo-identification interview. Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton are all pictured. The officer's notes have been excerpted to fit in a single image. The decision left E.M. 'very disappointed,' while the Crown, which has 30 days to decide if they want to appeal, said they would be carefully reviewing the judgement. The players' lawyers said their clients felt vindicated but their careers had been shattered, as they remain suspended from Hockey Canada programs and ineligible to play in the NHL until further notice, with the league saying Thursday that despite the not-guilty verdicts, the allegations in the case 'were very disturbing and the behaviour at issue was unacceptable.' It's also a case that prosecutors themselves said was more 'nuanced' than what a person might think a sexual assault looks like, but a sexual assault nevertheless, as they argued that E.M. either wasn't consenting or her consent was 'vitiated' — effectively cancelled — by the fear of being in a room full of men she didn't know. The judge disagreed, bluntly stating at the start of her judgement: 'In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear.' All five former players were found not guilty of all charges in the Hockey Canada trial, with the complainant's lawyer calling the judge's decision "devastating." And with that, the Crown's case had been gutted, as Carroccia went through each allegation one by one, finding the men not guilty. Carroccia found there were 'troubling aspects' in how E.M. testified that impacted her credibility as a witness, including offering vague answers and filling in memory gaps with assumptions. 'On several occasions, the complainant referred to her evidence as 'her truth' instead of 'the truth,' which seemingly blurs the line between what she believes to be true and what is objectively true,' the judge wrote. The world juniors were in London in June 2018 to attend the Hockey Canada Foundation's annual Gala & Golf fundraising event. After the gala, a number of players went out to Jack's Bar, where McLeod met E.M., and she agreed to return to his room at the Delta where they had a consensual sexual encounter. But then a number of players showed up in the room afterward, some prompted by a text to a players' group chat from McLeod about a '3 way.' E.M. testified the men placed a bedsheet on the floor and asked her to masturbate, to perform oral sex on them while they slapped and spat on her, and engaged in vaginal intercourse. She testified that while she never said no nor physically resisted, she went along with the sexual activity as a way of protecting herself, at one point telling police and prosecutors she had taken on the ' persona' of a 'porn star' as a coping mechanism . The Crown had alleged that McLeod had intercourse with E.M. a second time in the hotel room's bathroom; that Formenton separately had intercourse with her in the bathroom; that McLeod, Hart and Dubé obtained oral sex from her; that Dubé slapped her naked buttocks, and that Foote did the splits over her head while she was lying on the ground and his genitals 'grazed' her face — all without her consent. The defence argued that E.M. was an active participant, voluntarily masturbating for the players, repeatedly demanding to have sex, and becoming upset when few men took her up on her offers, an argument bolstered by the testimony of some of the Crown's own witnesses — players who had been in the room but weren't charged with wrongdoing. It was an argument also supported by the evidence of Hart, the only player to testify in his own defence and whose testimony the judge accepted. 'On the basis of all of the evidence, I find as fact that the complainant did express that she wanted to engage in sexual activity with the men by saying things like 'Is someone going to f—- me?' and masturbating,' the judge said. Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham, left, and the complainant E.M. testifying by video, are seen in a courtroom sketch in London in May. 'Given the issues relating to the credibility and reliability of the complainant's evidence, I conclude that I cannot rely on it.' The Crown had urged Carroccia to reject some of the evidence of their own player witnesses, Tyler Steenbergen and Brett Howden , arguing that their testimony about E.M. aggressively demanding to have sex in the room was a result of a players' group chat from late June 2018, which the Crown said showed players getting behind a false narrative of what had happened in the room. Carroccia said she disagreed with the Crown's characterization of the group chat, in which players were texting each other after finding out that Hockey Canada was looking into the events in the room. 'There is no basis upon which I can conclude that they did so for the purpose of concocting a false narrative of the events,' the judge said. 'In my view, the group chat reflects that the participants were expressing their honest recollections about what happened in room 209.' As the judge said herself, the case has a 'lengthy and contorted history,' which began when E.M.'s mother called police and her mother's partner called Hockey Canada on June 19, 2018, after E.M.'s mother found her distraught in the bathroom. London police declined to lay charges after an eight-month investigation, which included three interviews with E.M., reviewing surveillance and other video evidence, and interviewing most of the players who were on trial. As the Star first reported in May , Det. Steve Newton had doubts about E.M.'s claims that she was too intoxicated to consent, as she walked unaided in heels up and down the stairs in the Delta hotel lobby on surveillance footage; the detective also wondered whether E.M. had been an active participant in the room. But then a national scandal erupted in the spring of 2022 when TSN reported that Hockey Canada had quickly settled, for an undisclosed sum, E.M.'s $3.5-million sexual assault lawsuit against the sports organization and eight unnamed John Doe players, who had not been told about the claim. Sponsors began dumping Hockey Canada and executives were called to testify before Parliament. London police were feeling the heat too, reopening their investigation as a result of the significant media attention, and ultimately charging the five players in early 2024 ; at a packed news conference last year, Chief Thai Truong apologized to E.M. for the time it had taken to get to that point . In a statement Thursday, Truong commended E.M. for her 'outstanding courage and strength,' while noting his force's investigation had generated important conversations about sexual violence. As the Star also fi rst reported in May , Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham warned E.M. in a meeting just weeks before those charges were announced that it was 'not a really, really strong case,' but that a conviction was still possible, according to notes of the meeting. She told E.M. that while many news stories from 2022 'accept as true what is in your statement of claim' from the lawsuit, there was a 'real possibility that the current perception of what happened could change.' In her judgement Thursday, Carroccia expressed many of the same doubts as Newton regarding E.M.'s level of intoxication, as she doesn't appear to be stumbling on any video and there was no evidence that she was heard slurring her words. The judge went as far as saying E.M. had 'exaggerated' her intoxication in her testimony. The defence had argued that E.M.'s 'terror narrative' — her fear of being in the room — was cooked up as part of her lawsuit and not something she ever told police in 2018, when she instead used words like 'frustrated' and 'annoyed' to be in the room. Carroccia rejected the Crown's consent-cancelled-by-fear argument by pointing to those comments to police, as well as the fact that E.M. emerged naked from the hotel room bathroom, where her clothes were located, and walked into a room full of men who did not physically prevent her from leaving or threaten her. McLeod had also recorded two sh ort videos of E.M. in the room on his phone; she testified she didn't even know she was being recorded in the first clip, in which McLeod asks off-camera if she's 'OK with this' and she responds, smiling: 'I'm OK with this.' In the second video, she says she's sober and that 'It was all consensual.' While the Crown contended the videos couldn't be used to prove consent — as consent must be given at the time of the sexual activity — Carroccia said E.M.'s demeanour in the first clip in particular would suggest she was not scared. Hart testified that in response to E.M.'s repeated demands for sex, he asked for a 'blowie, meaning blowjob,' she said 'yeah' or 'sure' and then moved toward him and helped pull his pants down, performing oral sex on him for about 30 seconds to one minute. Carroccia said she accepted Hart's testimony and that E.M. 'indicated by her words and by her actions that she would engage in oral sex.' A photo of room 209 at the Delta Armouries hotel in London, Ont., marked up by Carter Hart during his testimony, depicting player Cal Foote doing the splits over the complainant on a bedsheet on the floor on June 19, 2018, as well as the positions of other players. Formenton had told police in 201 8 that he 'volunteered' after E.M. demanded to have sex with players while she was on the floor, and he followed her into the bathroom as he said he did not want to have sex in front of people. Again, Carroccia found that E.M. was expressing a willingness to engage in sexual activity, and she accepted Formenton's evidence that it was a mutual decision to go to the bathroom, as it was consistent with the testimony of all of the other witnesses that E.M. got up when Formenton approached her. While the judge was satisfied that Foote did the splits over E.M. — the splits being a popular 'party trick' Foote was known to do — she wasn't convinced that he wasn't wearing pants and that his genitals touched her. E.M., who couldn't identify Foote, said the man put his penis in her face when doing the splits; Hart testified that Foote was definitely wearing pants and he didn't touch E.M., while Steenbergen couldn't tell either way whether Foote was wearing anything. Given her other issues with E.M.'s testimony, Carroccia said she couldn't find her reliable on this point. 'None of the other witnesses, including the witnesses called by the Crown, testified that Mr. Foote removed his clothing,' Carroccia said. 'Although the complainant was naked at the time, I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that there was contact, or a threat of contact, nor am I satisfied that the act itself was sexual in nature.' Carroccia accepted that Dubé slapped E.M., but not that he was one of the multiple men she said were taking turns slapping her naked buttocks as hard as they could. Steenbergen had described the Dubé slap as light and playful, the judge noted. 'It would be wrong for me to parse out this one discrete slap from what I find to be a single multi-faceted period of sexual conduct,' Carroccia said. 'It would be wrong for me to find a lack of consent beyond a reasonable doubt for this application of force which caused no bodily harm, imbedded in this broader consensual conduct.' Dubé had told police in 2018 he received oral sex from E.M. for about 10 seconds after she was 'chirping' guys to have sex with her; Carroccia said she had a doubt as to E.M.'s lack of consent in that instance given her rejection of E.M.'s evidence. Finally, Carroccia accepted McLeod's evidence when he told police in 2018 that he received oral sex from E.M. after she offered 'blowjobs.' Before leaving the room, E.M. had intercourse again with McLeod in the bathroom, testifying it was just one last thing she felt she had to do, but Carroccia found her evidence about this instance of sexual activity 'vague and inconsistent' as she acquitted McLeod. As for being a party to a sexual assault, Carroccia said she wasn't satisfied based on the evidence that McLeod invited players to the room without E.M.'s knowledge for the purpose of committing a sexual assault, nor was there any evidence that McLeod encouraged or assisted others in committing a sexual assault once they were inside the room. E.M., who was watching Thursday's proceedings remotely, was 'disappointed' with the decision, her lawyer told dozens of reporters gathered outside the courthouse in sweltering heat, along with people carrying signs supporting her. 'And very disappointed with Her Honour's assessment of her honesty and reliability,' said Karen Bellehumeur, who spoke with her client after the verdict. 'She's really never experienced not being believed like this before.' She said E.M. knew there were no guarantees of guilty verdicts, but pushed ahead with testifying over nine days this year 'even if it meant opening herself up to intense scrutiny and unjustified criticism. Her purpose, which was always at the forefront of her mind, was to stand up for herself and for others who have had similar experiences.' For the five players, Carroccia's judgement was a vindication, their lawyers said. Hart's lawyer, Megan Savard, argued the Crown always knew it had a weak case and therefore the verdicts should come as no surprise, as she excoriated the media for its 'ongoing failure' to publicize those weaknesses as the trial unfolded. 'Almost every single feature of the evidence that Justice Carroccia identified today as fatal flaws for the Crown was known to prosecutors and to police from 2018,' Savard said. 'Today's outcome was not just predictable, it was predicted.' Formenton's lawyer, Daniel Brown, said the public now knows what his client had always maintained: 'that he is innocent of this false allegation — but only after his case erupted into a massively publicized social cause. 'Alex's face has appeared on millions of screens and newspaper pages. There can be little doubt that an untold number of people believed he was guilty simply because he had been accused of a crime, long before any evidence was presented in court.' David Humphrey, representing McLeod, noted that for years, public perception of the case was 'shaped by a one-sided narrative from a civil lawsuit that went unchallenged in large part because Hockey Canada settled the claim without first informing or consulting the players,' who Humphrey said. would have refused to settle and would have 'vigorously contested E.M.'s allegations.' Dubé's lawyer, Julie Santarossa, said her grateful client was impressed throughout the trial by Carroccia's impartiality and fairness, while Foote's lawyer, Julianna Greenspan, said he 'never lost faith that justice would be done despite the clamour of external pressures and agendas outside the courthouse doors.' Crown attorneys Meaghan Cunningham and Heather Donkers thanked E.M. for coming forward. 'A successful prosecution is not measured solely by whether there are guilty verdicts at the end,' said Cunningham, the province's lead sexual assault prosecutor as chair of the Crown office's sexual violence advisory group. Ongoing coverage of the legal saga that has captured public attention and sparked a reckoning over the handling of sexual misconduct allegations in professional sports, from the Star's courts and justice reporter Jacques Gallant . 'She's come a long way': Lawyer for woman who sued Hockey Canada reflects ahead of verdicts Thursday in sexual assault trial Jury dismissed. Hockey Canada trial to go judge-alone after jurors report being 'made fun of' by defence lawyers 'I just didn't care': Why a Hockey Canada investigator's 'unfair' probe led to the exclusion of a 'virtual treasure trove' of evidence Why didn't police lay charges in 2019? Inside the London police investigations in the Hockey Canada sex assault case 'My truth': What we heard from the Hockey Canada sex assault complainant in nine days of testimony 'I'm 19 years old and there's a naked girl in the room': Accused player Carter Hart testifies at Hockey Canada sex assault trial 'I knew he didn't do anything': Hockey Canada complainant blames her lawyers for false accusation in high-profile lawsuit 'The Crown's goal throughout this proceeding has been to see a fair trial; a trial that is fair to the men charged, and one that is also fair to E.M.' With the trial now over, proceedings are expected to resume with respect to the players' fate with Hockey Canada. For now, they remain suspended from the organization's programs, which means they're ineligible to play, coach or volunteer. A report into the events in the room from independent investigator and Toronto lawyer Danielle Robitaille was given to an adjudicative panel in November 2022; a year later, that panel delivered a final report as to whether members of the 2018 team had breached Hockey Canada's code of conduct and if so, what sanctions should be imposed. Neither report was publicly released. Shortly after the panel's report was delivered, a notice of appeal was filed, though Hockey Canada hasn't specified by whom. The independent board hearing the appeal agreed last September to adjourn the hearing until the criminal proceedings had concluded. Hockey Canada said Thursday that it wouldn't be making further comments so as not to interfere with that appeal process. The NHL launched its own investigation in 2022, but those findings have also not been released. Four of the five men were playing in the league at the time of their arrests in early 2024 and promptly went on leave; their future with the NHL remains unclear. Hart was a goalie with the Philadelphia Flyers, Dubé was a forward with the Calgary Flames, and McLeod and Foote were a forward and defenceman, respectively, with the New Jersey Devils. 'The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable ,' the NHL said Thursday. 'We will be reviewing and considering the judge's findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the League.' The National Hockey League Players' Association took issue with the NHL's stance in their own statement, saying it's inconsistent with discipline procedures and the association will be addressing it with the league. 'After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work,' the association said. McLeod is currently playing with Russia's Avangard Omsk, and Dubé is with Belarus's HC Dinamo Minsk, both part of the Kontinental Hockey League. Foote is playing in the Slovakian league. There's no indication Hart is currently playing hockey professionally. According to court records filed last summer, he was planning to move to Nashville to train with a friend and former professional player until the start of the trial this past April. Formenton, who previously played with the Ottawa Senators, was with Swiss team HC Ambri-Piotta when he was charged. He has left hockey 'for the time being,' according to an affidavit filed last year, and is working full-time in the construction industry.
