Topshop's Sir Philip Green accused of sexual harassment

London - Topshop founder Sir Philip Green has been named by parliament as the leading businessman accused by a newspaper of sexual and racial harassment against his employees.

Earlier this week the Telegraph disclosed it had conducted an eight month investigation of allegations of bullying, intimidation and sexual harassment without naming Green.

MP Peter Hain, who identified him in the Lords, said in parliament: "My Lords, having been contacted by someone intimately involved in the case of a powerful businessman using non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to conceal the truth about serious and repeated sexual harassment, racist abuse and bullying, which is compulsively continuing, I feel it’s my duty under parliamentary privilege to name Philip Green as the individual in question given that the media have been subject to an injunction preventing publication of the full details of this story which is clearly in the public interest.”

The Telegraph was gagged from naming Green as the alleged perpetrator

According to the BBC the Court of Appeal issued an injunction preventing the newspaper from publishing Sir Philip's name. It remains in force, but Lord Hain's statement, made under parliamentary privilege, has been widely reported in the UK media.

The findings by Telegraph show five cases of “substantial payments” made to people as part of non disclosure “settlement agreements” or NDAs, in return for remaining silent and not to discuss their alleged experiences.

Sir Philip responded on Thursday evening, saying in a statement he and his company, Arcadia, "take accusations and grievances from employees very seriously and in the event that one is raised, it is thoroughly investigated."

"Arcadia employs more than 20,000 people and in common with many large businesses sometimes receives formal complaints from employees.

"In some cases these are settled with the agreement of all parties and their legal advisers. These settlements are confidential so I cannot comment further on them."

The British #metoo scandal

With a headline dubbed the British #metoo scandal, the Telegraph on its website wrote: "The accused man has hired a team of at least seven lawyers and spent close to 500,000 pounds in legal fees to persuade the Court of Appeal to injunct The Telegraph. He is being represented by Schillings, the legal firm which has also worked with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lance Armstrong and Ryan Giggs, individuals who have controversially made use of NDAs or injunctions to silence accusations of wrongdoing.

In a statement, Sir Philip denies any wrongdoing: "to the extent that it is suggested that I have been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour, I categorically and wholly deny these allegations."

Sir Philip Green's reputation in the past few years has been badly tarnished since the BHS scandal, the tax avoidance schemes and his brash super yacht lifestyle. To many, his apparent disregard for norms and ethics is no doubt extended to his employees.

Slaven Vlasic / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP