The China Mail - Late Harrods owner 'ruined lives' of alleged victims: lawyer

The five, who were not employed by the iconic London department store, are fighting for justice and claiming compensation from the estate of the Egyptian billionaire, who died aged 94 in 2023.

Dozens of women have come forward to say they were sexually abused, harassed and raped by Al-Fayed, as well as being subjected to gynaecological examinations and tests for sexually transmitted infections, since a BBC investigation was aired in September.

Most of these alleged victims were young women working on the shop floor or as assistants at Harrods, the famed luxury store Al-Fayed owned from 1985 to 2010.

London law firm Leigh Day is representing 27 women, most of whom were Harrods employees.

However, five of the women worked as nannies for the Al-Fayed family or as flight attendants for his private airline, Fayair.

The five faced "serious sexual abuse and harassment" between 1990 and 2010, the lawyer representing them, Richard Meeran, told AFP in an interview Monday.

He revealed all five women allege they were also made to undergo "intrusive" and "inappropriate" gynaecological examinations and blood tests -- similar to the ones previously reported by former Harrods employees.

These tests "were entirely inappropriate for the jobs that they were doing," said Meeran.

- Beyond Harrods -

The impact of their treatment "has been devastating... throughout their lives," he added.

"Many of their lives have been ruined. Their relationships have been ruined. For many of them, it's affected their employment as well."

Last week, Harrods announced a fund to provide compensation to alleged victims who had a "sufficiently close connection" to the store or to Al-Fayed's role there.

According to Meeran, "it is vitally important that the estate is held responsible" as well.

"For those women who were not connected with Harrods, it's important that they have a route to securing redress for their injuries," said Meeran.

If the estate's lawyers accept liability for the actions allegedly perpetrated by Al-Fayed, negotiations could result in compensation for the five women.

The law firm representing Al-Fayed's estate, Fladgate LLP, did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

While compensation is an "important" part of the legal process, "proper accountability and justice should go beyond that", said Meeran.

Many of his clients and other alleged victims are calling for a public inquiry into the scandal.

- 'Cover-up' -

Among the organisations being probed is London's Metropolitan police, accused of failing to properly investigate abuses when they were reported.

According to Meeran, the police, as well as doctors who conducted the examinations, were part of a "cover-up".

"He couldn't have done this for so long and to so many people without the complicity of the organisation (Harrods)," said Meeran.

"There was a whole system that enabled this to happen."

In 2008, Al-Fayed was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl and prosecutors reviewed evidence in 2009. In 2015, he was investigated over claims of rape two years earlier.

In both instances, the Crown Prosecution Service did not bring any charges.

Leigh Day is also representing at least one victim who accused Al-Fayed's brother Salah Fayed, who died in 2010, of sexual abuse.

"The scale of this is unprecedented, the scale and duration of it," said Meeran.

Allegations against Al-Fayed have been made by former employees at Harrods, Fulham Football Club, and the Ritz hotel in Paris, which he also owned.

The women were "treated as part of his empire," said Meeran.

V.Liu--ThChM