Karren Brady’s resignation is a warning to unscrupulous leaders like Philip Green

The scandal surrounding Sir Philip Green, the retail tycoon behind high street chains such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and the now-liquidated BHS, just keeps playing.

Since last August, when the Daily Telegraph was first barred by a legal injunction from reporting allegations of misconduct against Green, fresh accusations have continued to surface, from sexual harassment to racial abuse.

Yesterday, news broke that Baroness Karren Brady had stepped down from her role as chair of Taveta Investments, the holding company of Green’s retail empire. A successful businesswoman known for her leading role in football and made famous across the UK by her involvement in the TV show The Apprentice, her departure has once again propelled the story of Green’s behaviour onto the front pages.

Brady will likely be hoping that her resignation prevents her from being tarred with Green’s brush, but she had already faced criticism over the past few weeks for taking so long to jump ship. Earlier this month, when Green’s injunction against the Telegraph was dropped, she came under pressure to distance herself.

The Labour MP Jess Phillips wrote an op-ed asking why the business baroness, who has spoken out boldly against Harvey Weinstein and allied herself with the #MeToo movement, had seemingly overlooked the scandal in her own backyard.

Phillips questioned what Brady, as chair of its parent company, had done to confront the toxic culture at Arcadia and help support victims coming forward, who were convinced to sign NDAs preventing them from speaking out. With her profile, she was one of few able to challenge Green, and her resignation in protest at his treatment of staff would have counted for a lot.

At the time, Brady said that she had a “sense of duty” to Arcadia employees to remain. And one could argue that it is unfair to expect a woman to resign over a man’s mistakes. But whatever you think about her hesitance or her decision this week, it is clear that high-profile revelations of this kind have consequences for business leaders.

Green has not been tried in a court of law and we do not know that any of his behaviour constitutes a crime. But simply not breaking the law is too low a bar in today’s business world. With greater scrutiny on corporate governance and the role of business in society, the culture of bullying and harassment that is still being alleged at Arcadia is unacceptable.

Any executives or directors who believe that they can hide behind injunctions won by expensive lawyers should think again.