World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab has been accused of sexual harassment by various female employees, according to reports.
Schwab is accused of creating a hostile work environment and sexually harassing female staff, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal.
Schwab, who resigned from his role at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, allegedly targeted employees over 50 for dismissal to lower the workforce’s average age.
However, when his HR chief, Paolo Gallo, refused to comply with this directive, Schwab abruptly fired him.
In 2017, Schwab reportedly dismissed a young woman leading a startup initiative because she was pregnant, expressing anger that she wouldn’t be able to work at the same pace as the rest of the staff.
Other female staffers reported being pushed out after becoming pregnant or returning from maternity leave.
Meanwhile, other female staffers claimed they suffered sexual harassment, with suggestive comments and inappropriate behavior by senior managers
Schwab was described as setting a tone of sexualization and objectification of female staffers, with various accounts of him making women uncomfortable with his disturbing behavior.
“I knew he liked me, and I knew he found me pretty,” said one woman by the name of Mryiam Boussina.
“Every man with a lot of power, they think that they can get any woman and they are not ashamed.”
“There was a lot of pressure to be good-looking and wear tight dresses,” added another woman who worked at the WEF.
“Never in my career have I experienced looks being such an important topic as in the Forum.”
Another staffer claimed that Schwab made suggestive comments and physically posed suggestively in front of her, even telling her he wished she was Hawaiian to see her in a costume.
“I need to find you a man, and if I were not married, I would put myself on the top of that list,” Schwab is reported to have said.
However, Schwab denied all the allegations,
“Mr. Schwab does not and has never engaged in the vulgar behaviors you describe,” a Forum spokesman said.
The spokesman also accused the Journal of reportingJournal’s “mischaracterizing our organization, culture, and colleagues, including our founder.”
READ: DeSantis Crushes Bill Gates as He BANS Lab-Grown Meat in Florida
