Former prime minister David Cameron has this week left tech firm, Afiniti, after allegations of sexual harassment were made against its CEO in the US Congress.
Cameron has chaired the advisory board of the company since 2019.
The former UK premier's office said that the accusations related to events which allegedly occurred before he took up his post, and he had only become aware of them on Tuesday this week.
The allegations against Afiniti CEO, Zia Chishti, made by former employee, Tatiana Spottiswoode, are disputed. They relate to events which took place in 2017, during a business trip to Brazil.
Spottiswoode, who joined Afiniti in 2016, informed a Congress committee that a “strong confidentiality clause” in her employment contract had prevented her from disclosing details of the alleged assault, until now.
Cameron's office said that after the former Conservative leader had become aware of the allegations, he had regretfully resigned with immediate effect, following disagreement “with the approach taken by the company in responding to the matter”.
“The alleged events took place before David Cameron started working for Afiniti and he had absolutely no knowledge of them until just before [the] congressional hearing,” the statement from Cameron’s office said.
"Mr Cameron understands that the allegations are disputed but disagrees with the approach being taken by the company in responding to the matter. He made this view clear to Mr Chishti.”
Afiniti has released its own statement on the matter, saying that the allegations have been taken seriously, but after an independent investigation, the company had concluded that Spottiswoode’s comments were “erroneous”.
“Afiniti has investigated Ms Spottiswoode’s claims with independent counsel and concluded that the arbitral decision she references was erroneous. Afiniti’s CEO and chair Zia Chishti strongly disputes all accusations against him,” the statement said.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
