Sexual harassment and bullying scandal erupts at Country Road

Two senior male executives have left the business and Country Road Group has launched an investigation after claims of bullying and sexual harassment.

A sexual harassment and bullying scandal has erupted at the headquarters of Country Road Group. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard.

A sexual harassment and workplace scandal has erupted within fashion house Country Road Group, seeing two highly placed executives depart and the global boss flying to Australia to address staff to announce an external investigation into the handling of complaints at the retailer’s Melbourne headquarters.

Staff have complained at feeling unsafe, with this confirmed in an email from the fashion retailer’s HR boss, who directly addressed the crisis and mentioned allegations of sexual harassment.

Onsite counselling was also offered to Country Road Group employees, it was confirmed in an internal company obtained by The Australian.

The South African owners of Country Road, Woolworths Holdings, have called in external consultants to investigate allegations of inadequate responses to allegations, which include sexual harassment, unwanted touching of female staff, bullying and racism.

The chief executive of South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, Roy Bagattini, flew out to the retailer’s head office in the Melbourne suburb of Burnley in March to hear complaints first hand at what has been described by witnesses as a highly emotional and angry staff meeting.

Roy Bagattini.

Staff members are angry over not just the alleged treatment, but also the lack of action from Woolworths Holdings, and its failure to listen to complaints and act with haste to address the growing scandal.

Later in one staff email, obtained by The Australian, Country Road Group chief people officer Adele Preston conceded there had been some recent experiences “where some team members have felt unsafe at work due to allegations of sexual harassment”.

“We are confident this is no longer ongoing however we are disappointed that it has happened,” she wrote to staff earlier this year.

It is believed that Mr Bagattini also became emotional in the staff meeting as he was told of the improper behaviour by some executives, with many staff especially aggrieved that they had failed to receive adequate support from the company.

Some staff members have told The Australian of sexual allegations by one former executive including sexually laced comments, some staff given unwanted kisses and touching, as well as workplace bullying levelled against another executive.

Staff at the fashion retailer’s Melbourne headquarters have been offered access to counselling services.

The corporate culture at Country Road has hit rock bottom, insiders claim, and it has come at a time when led by Raju Vuppalapati, the former boss of RM Williams, who joined Country Road as CEO in mid-2021 and brought a number of RM Williams executives across with him.

One of those executives was Rachid Maliki, who was brought in as chief supply chain officer. Following allegations of sexual harassment and bullying it is believed that Mr Maliki was given two weeks leave as an investigation was mounted. He later exited the business suddenly on February 19 after only 19 months in the role.

There were also allegations of workplace bullying against a second RM Williams executive brought into Country Road Group, Mehmed Mustafic, around his alleged treatment of some staff at the Burnley head office. These allegations did not include sexual harassment or sexually inappropriate conduct.

Mr Mustafic exited the business on March 21 after serving for only 10 months in the role as general manager of sourcing and product development. He had previously spent 14 years at country clothing outfitter RM Williams, with Mr Maliki working as an executive at RM Williams for 6 years.

There have been no official findings against Mr Maliki or Mr Mustafic. Both were contacted for comment by The Australian. It is not known whether Mr Maliki or Mr Mustafic will be given the opportunity to defend themselves in response to the allegations in the review commissioned by Country Road.

There have also been no allegations made against Country Road Group CEO Mr Vuppalapati.

Mehmed Mustafic.

Rachid Maliki.

Woolworths Holdings sold department store David Jones in late 2022 for $120m but the South African company kept ownership of the Country Road Group and its highly popular fashion brands Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, Mimco and Politix.

Such has been the anger and upset around the workplace behaviour at Country Road, Mr Bagattini flew out to Australia in late March to address staff and more importantly hear their grievances and concerns about workplace culture at Country Road Group.

In response, Mr Bagattini then wrote to all staff promising an externally run investigation into the behaviour.

“I would like to acknowledge what has been a very difficult time for Country Road,” he said.

“In the last fortnight, Woolworths Holdings was made aware of team member dissatisfaction regarding the handling of complaints about alleged sexual harassment,” his memo to staff, obtained by The Australian, said.

“Specifically, team members felt their feedback has not been heard and the process to address the complaints took far too long.

“At Woolworths Holdings and Country Road Group we have zero tolerance for any inappropriate behaviour. Our commitment to you is to ensure that all team members feel safe, valued and included.

“It’s imperative that these issues are explored further to ensure that the culture that we are all so proud of, is not undermined.”

In his staff memo Mr Bagattini said he had authorised the commissioning of an independent review by an external consultancy to investigate the handling of staff complaints.

“We will share the next steps on this matter as soon as we’re in a position to do so,” Mr Bagattini said in his staff email.

He was backed by Ms Preston, a leading HR manager within Country Road Group, who in her email to staff said the retailer would “not tolerate any behaviour in our company that leaves any of our people feeling uncomfortable or unsafe.

“And we commit to aggressively dealing with any instance of this nature,” Ms Preston said in her staff email.

In a statement on Monday night, a Country Road Group spokeswoman said the fashion and apparel retailer takes any complaint of harassment, including sexual harassment, very seriously and has a zero-tolerance policy for matters of this nature.

“Having received feedback from some team members regarding the handling of their complaints, our parent company Woolworths Holdings Limited has taken prompt action, including the commissioning of an independent investigation to look into this matter.

“This independent review is currently in its final stages, the outcomes of which are expected to be shared with Country Road Group team members in June. It is critically important to us that our workplace is one where all team members feel safe, valued and included. We sincerely thank team members for speaking up and raising their concerns. In the interim, we strongly encourage all parties to avoid speculation on outcomes prior to the completion of the independent investigation.”