Lawyers for Harrods are proposing six-figure payouts to settle claims brought by sexual abuse victims of the London department store’s former owner, Mohamed al Fayed.
Sky News has learnt that MPL Legal, which is coordinating a redress scheme on behalf of the world-famous retailer, has told potential claimants that they could be eligible for general damages lump sums of up to £110,000 or £200,000, depending upon claimants’ willingness to submit to a psychiatric assessment arranged by the company.
A document seen by Sky News suggests that victims of Mr al Fayed who choose a “non-medical pathway” would be eligible for “general damages limited to compensation for sexual assault of up to £110,000”, with “aggravated damages [of] up to £15,000”, and “wrongful testing fixed payment(s) up to £7,500”.
Claimants who agree to an assessment by a scheme consultant psychiatrist – referred to in the document as the “medical pathway” – would be eligible for general damages of up to £200,000, further payments equivalent to those potentially awarded to non-medical claimants, as well as treatment costs “past and future supported by the medical report” and a “work impact payment capped at £110,000”.
The “wrongful testing” payments refer to women who were forced to undergo unnecessary and intrusive medical examinations demanded by Mr al Fayed, while the “work impact payments” relate to loss of earnings triggered by, for example, the unjustified termination of victims’ employment at Harrods.
The draft terms raise the prospect that some of the former Harrods owner’s victims could receive payments of more than £300,000.
However, the decision to impose a further psychiatric assessment in order to access the largest sums available under the scheme may anger claimants who have already endured years of psychological trauma after being abused by Mr al Fayed.
Those who opt to pursue the “medical pathway” nevertheless face a protracted wait to receive their payouts.
The MLP document said it would take up to six months to produce a medical report, after which a claimant would have 21 days to submit questions relating to it.
An offer of compensation would then be made within 35 days, it said, after which a claimant could accept the offer, appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel or leave the scheme and pursue an alternative form of redress.
The proposed terms are understood to be preliminary and subject to ongoing consultation, and will not be concluded until the end of this month, according to sources close to the process.
If the scheme is finalised along lines similar to those being consulted on, it would likely result in a total compensation bill for Harrods running to tens of millions of pounds.
The final cost of compensating victims of a man now regarded as one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders will, though, be unclear until the number of claimants and their decisions about which compensation route to pursue have been determined.
Responding to an enquiry from Sky News this weekend, a Harrods spokesperson said: “It would be premature for us to comment on the nature and details of a scheme that is currently under consultation.
“We are actively inviting the valuable input from Survivors and their legal representatives to establish the final scheme that aims to be survivor-first, trauma-informed, and fair in its approach to compensation.
“Further updates will be provided once the consultation period is complete.”
Details are, however, expected to be finalised in the coming days.
According to a document published on a website set up by MPL Legal for the purposes of administering the redress scheme, “Harrods and MPL Legal are undertaking a period of consultation regarding the compensation scheme in which we will receive detailed feedback from interested parties, including several legal firms representing survivors, leading Counsel and Dame Jasvinder [Sanghera], the Independent Survivor Advocate”.
“It is anticipated the final compensation scheme will be published and survivors will be able to access application forms from 31 March 2025.”
Mr al Fayed, who died in 2023, owned Harrods for 25 years, selling it in 2010 to Qatar Holding, one of the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth funds, for £1.5bn.
His reign of terror at the Knightsbridge store is thought to have involved hundreds of predominantly young female victims, with former Fulham women’s players also alleging sexual abuse by the billionaire Egyptian.
Mr al Fayed also owned Fulham Football Club for a number of years.
The MPL Legal document seen by Sky News said the redress scheme would “provide options for survivors – an alternative route to the court process”, and that it would “hopefully avoid an adversarial approach which also risks retraumatising survivors”.
It added that the scheme would be “as inclusive as possible – we want the scheme to work for as many survivors as we can”.
Under the heading “Scheme principles”, MPL said it represented “an alternative to litigation, but a survivor can leave the scheme at any time and pursue the claim through the court system”.
It said it hoped that law firms engaging with the scheme “will ensure survivors receive 100% of the compensation”.
“The level of compensation available through the scheme has been designed to mirror the court’s approach,” it added.
It also said there were “certain classifications of cases which may not be suitable for the scheme, for example if a survivor wishes to claim a full loss of earnings”.
Last October, lawyers acting for victims of Mr al Fayed said they had received more than 420 enquiries about potential claims, although it is unclear how many more have come forward in the six months since.
Source : https://news.sky.com/story/harrods-proposes-six-figure-payouts-to-victims-of-al-fayed-abuse-13333651
