Several female employees at the World Economic Forum have publicly accused founder Klaus Schwab of sexual harassment.
Schwab faces charges of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
One of Schwab’s alleged acts of misconduct involved firing targeted employees over the age of 50 in order to lower the average age of the workforce. When his human resources chief, Paolo Gallo, refused to comply with this directive without valid performance-related reasons, Schwab fired him.
In 2017, Schwab reportedly fired a young woman in charge of a startup program after she told him she was pregnant. He expressed dissatisfaction with her inability to work at the same pace and let her go after a brief probationary period.
Many other female employees also said they were fired or faced career setbacks after becoming pregnant or taking maternity leave.
Meanwhile, other female employees said they were victims of sexual harassment, with some incidents involving suggestive comments and inappropriate behavior by senior managers, and some remaining on the forum.
Schwab, who formally resigned as executive chairman last month, has been described as setting a tone of sexualization and objectification from the top, with multiple reports of him making women feel uncomfortable with his comments and behavior.
“I know he likes me and I know he thinks I’m beautiful,” said a woman named Mryam Boussina. “Every man who has a lot of power, they think they can get any woman, and they’re not ashamed.”
“There was a lot of pressure to look good and wear tight dresses,” added another woman who worked at the World Economic Forum in the 2010s. “Never in my career have I experienced anything as important as at the Forum. Theme of.”
Another staff member alleged that Schwab made suggestive comments and even posed provocatively in front of her, at one point mentioning that he wished she was Hawaiian so he could see her in costume.
“I need to find you a man, and if I wasn’t married, I would put myself at the top of that list,” Schwab reportedly said multiple times.
Schwab vehemently denies all accusations and insists he acted professionally at all times. “Mr. Schwab does not and has never engaged in the vulgar conduct you describe,” a forum spokesman said, adding that the Journal’s report would “misrepresent our organization, culture and colleagues, including our founder .
Under his leadership, the World Economic Forum actively promoted the concept of a “Great Reset” aimed at replacing democratic governments with a global governance system similar to that of Communist China.
