The Latest: Hospital to return UK charity money

January 24, 2018 06:38 AM

The Latest on reports of sexual harassment of women at an event in London (all times local):

11:30 a.m.

Britain's Great Ormond Street Hospital says it will return donations from a U.K. charity involved in allegations that women were groped at a fundraising gala attended by hundreds of senior executives and lawmakers.

The men-only event at London's Dorchester Hotel, which was held to raise money for charities, featured some 100 female hostesses, including two undercover Financial Times reporters. The journalists described harassment, lewd comments and "repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms."

The children's hospital says Wednesday it was shocked to learn of the behavior at the Presidents Club dinner and that it wouldn't knowingly accept donations raised this way.

The hospital says that it was never supposed to receive money from the dinner but that it will return previous donations and "no longer accept gifts from the Presidents Club Charitable Trust."

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10 a.m.

Senior women in Britain's Parliament are demanding tougher laws against harassment after a Financial Times investigation found that women were groped at a men-only charity gala attended by hundreds of senior executives and lawmakers.

The event at London's Dorchester Hotel, which was held to raise money for charities, featured some 100 female hostesses, including two undercover FT reporters. The journalists described harassment, lewd comments and "repeated requests to join diners in bedrooms elsewhere in the Dorchester."

The event featured auction prizes of tea with Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney and lunch with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Equalities committee chair Maria Miller tweeted she hopes "every man who attended this event will think twice before accepting another invitation to a 'men only' event with more than 100 female hostesses."