Brie O’Keefe worked at the London-based charity with the former Labour strategist Justin Forsyth and the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox Brendan (pictured) from the age of 28 to 31
A female charity worker who worked under Brendan Cox and Justin Forsyth at Save The Children claims the ‘brutal bullying culture’ and sexual harassment at the organisation was like a sketch from ‘The Thick Of It’.
Brie O’Keefe worked at the London-based charity with the former Labour strategist and the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox from the age of 28 to 31.
Cox, 41, this month admitted to ‘inappropriate behaviour’ towards female colleagues and has also been accused of grabbing a woman by the throat and telling her ‘I want to f*** you’ outside a bar.
Forsyth quit his role as deputy executive director at Unicef this week after it emerged he sent three young female Save The Children UK employees a ‘barrage of unsuitable texts’ during his time there.
Likening him to Peter Capaldi’s character Malcolm Tucker, Ms O’Keefe claims Forsyth brought a ‘brutal bullying culture’ from Gordon Brown’s Downing Street office and Cox was a ‘brazen philanderer’.
She told The Times: ‘Mr Cox was more popular. At first, he was even inspiring.
‘But his behaviour made savvier colleagues uneasy. Things could cross the line with whoever was around at the end of the night. Usually it was the youngest staff.’
Forsyth (pictured) quit his role as deputy executive director at Unicef this week after it emerged he sent three young female Save The Children UK employees a ‘barrage of unsuitable texts’ during his time there. Cox has also apologised for inappropriate behaviour
Likening him to Peter Capaldi’s character Malcolm Tucker, Ms O’Keefe (pictured) claims Forsyth brought a ‘brutal bullying culture’ from Gordon Brown’s Downing Street office and Cox was a ‘brazen philanderer’
Ms O’Keefe, who no longer works in the charity sector, said 80 per cent of the workforce were women and older employees would often have to ‘police the dancefloor’ on work nights out trying to shield them from Cox’s ‘unsavoury advances’.
She claims he would text female employees at 2am saying ‘Come and have a drink with me’ and his 5pm ‘daily catch up’ was more like ‘a gathering of a harem’.
Describing Forsyth’s approach when he was bought in as chief executive with Cox as head of policy, she added: ‘The two of them coming in short order really perpetuated the culture of Gordon Brown’s No 10 that moved into Save the Children — yelling, bad temper, unrealistic expectations, lots of bullying.’
Alexia Pepper De Caires, 39, worked under the men as well, giving evidence in the internal investigation into Cox’s alleged sexual harassment.
After leaving in 2015 she told The Times there was always a ‘very strange sexual dynamic in the office’ and talked of his ‘predatory behaviour’ at parties.
Ms O’Keefe claims Brendan Cox (pictured with his wife Jo) would text female employees at 2am saying ‘Come and have a drink with me’ and his 5pm ‘daily catch up’ was more like ‘a gathering of a harem’
Fazia Shaheen spent two years at Save The Children’s London office and claims it was ‘easily the worst experience I’ve had’.
Ms O’Keefe says she is still ‘haunted by the legacy of working there’ and is furious both Cox and Forsyth were able to move on to other senior charity roles unscathed.
She said: ‘I really admired Brendan and he disappointed me and many other people with his hypocrisy and his behaviour. I want accountability. Save the Children let them walk away.’
Cox has now resigned from The Jo Cox Foundation and More In Common, two charities he founded in memory of his wife.
He has apologised for ‘inappropriate behaviour’ during his time at Save The Children.
The charity itself has apologised to female employees who complained of inappropriate behaviour by Forsyth, admitting their claims were not properly dealt with at the time.
But says she is still ‘haunted by the legacy of working at Save The Children’ and is furious both Cox and Forsyth were able to move on to other senior charity roles unscathed
His resignation insisted he is not stepping down from Unicef because of the allegations against him regarding his time at the other charity.
A statement from him read: ‘With heavy heart, I am today tendering my resignation to UNICEF as Deputy Executive Director.
‘It has been a huge honour to work for UNICEF over the last two years, fighting for the rights of children around the world.
‘It is an extraordinary force for good and I know it will have even more impact in the coming years under the leadership of Executive Director Fore.
‘I wish my friends and colleagues at UNICEF and the UN well.
‘I want to make clear I am not resigning from UNICEF because of the mistakes I made at Save the Children. They were dealt with through a proper process many years ago. I apologised unreservedly at the time and face to face. I apologise again.’