London (AFP) - UK police have launched an investigation into the nation's CBI business lobby group over allegations of sexual misconduct.
City of London Police, which cover the capital's finance district, confirmed its probe late Tuesday.
It came hours after the Confederation of British Industry fired Director General Tony Danker and suspended three employees following claims that have rocked the organisation.
The police force "takes all acts of sexual misconduct and violence against women and girls extremely seriously", Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Waight said in a statement.
"We approached the CBI following media reports and our investigations are at a very early stage."
The CBI dismissed Danker following an independent investigation into workplace misconduct against him.
The organisation's probe, handled by a law firm, has been expanded after The Guardian newspaper reported that "more than a dozen" women claim to be victims of sexual misconduct by "senior figures", including one who alleged she was raped at a staff party.
The CBI said Danker was not the subject of those allegations, but its probe had "determined that his own conduct fell short of that expected" of its boss.
The organisation apologised to victims, expressed "revulsion" about the allegations and admitted to "serious failings" in its handling of the matter.
The CBI appointed Rain Newton-Smith, former chief economist at the group, to rejoin as its new director general just one month after she began a strategist role at Barclays bank.
