David Jones chief David Thomas exits department store following discrimination complaint

David Jones Boxing Day Sale is kicked off with the ringing of the Bell by David Jones CEO David Thomas and Anna Heinrich. Crowds of customers lined up from early morning to be first through the doors for the clearance items. Most popular item was handbags. Pics Bill Hearne

David Jones boss David Thomas has left his job after the department store launched an investigation into a discrimination complaint against the former chief executive.

It understood the complaint was made by one of Mr Thomas’ staff.

Mr Thomas was appointed chief executive in 2018 and the company announced Thursday that he was leaving for “personal reasons” after an internal memo was sent to staff.

However, the department store received a complaint in November last year following an allegation of discrimination. David Jones launched an investigation into the complaint.

It is understood that the staffer who made the complaint had engaged Harmers Workplace Lawyers.

“David Jones confirms that it received a complaint of discrimination against its CEO, David Thomas, in November last year. Immediately following the complaint, an external legal firm was appointed by David Jones to conduct an investigation into the matter,” a David Jones spokesman told The Australian.

“No evidence was found to support the claim,” the spokesman said.

“David Jones does not tolerate discrimination in any form and is focused on fostering an inclusive culture and workplace for its team that does not differentiate based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation,” the department store said.

Mr Thomas had been the chief executive of the Australian retailer, which is owned by the South African company Woolworths, since taking over from John Dixon when he departed last year.

He was previously chief operating offer at David Jones and also worked as the chief operating officer at Country Road.

Woolworths Holdings boss Ian Moir will now take charge of David Jones.

The department store has now had four chief executives in five years, including Paul Zahra — a long serving chief executive who has been at the company 14 years — Ian Nairn, and John Dixon.

Mr Thomas has been at the helm since about June and his departure comes as the company faces cost blowouts on the refurbishment of its Elizabeth Street store in Sydney and flat trading results.

However, David Jones said in a statement to The Australian that Mr Thomas had left for personal reasons and that a replacement chief executive would be announced in due course.

Woolworths Holdings paid $2.2 billion for David Jones in 2014, but since that time, department stores have fallen victim to disruption from online shopping globally, and rival Myer is also facing major headwinds.

However, Woolworths provided a trading update for its Australian retail operations that include the Country Road group in November, showing that positive sales momentum for the department store has continued into the new financial year.

Woolworths said sales at David Jones had increased by 2.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent in comparable stores sales.

Online sales have grown by 48.4 per cent and now contribute 5.2 per cent of total sales for David Jones, up from 3.6 per cent of sales in the prior period.