THE chief executive officer of Namibian retail giant Pupkewitz Group Holdings, Frederick Christoffel ‘Dougie’ Truter, has resigned following investigations into alleged sexual misconduct involving staff members.
A statement issued by the chairperson of Pupkewitz’s board of directors, Michael Leeming, said Truter opted to resign last month rather than defend himself against a string of charges made against him by female employees.
The sexual misconduct allegations surfaced in July and were reported to management.
Once the board received evidence of the allegations of “gross misconduct”, Leeming said, it acted quickly to investigate them through an independent investigation – carried out by a team of lawyers.
The chairperson said this was in accordance with the group’s zero tolerance to sexual harassment.
The findings prompted the board to proceed with a disciplinary hearing against Truter.
However, as a result of Truter’s decision to resign, the hearing will not go ahead. The statement said Truter had resigned on 24 September with immediate effect.
“This resignation comes after Mr Truter was suspended pending an investigation of several allegations against him of gross misconduct, and shortly before a disciplinary hearing was to commence into charges against him,” Leeming said.
He added that the findings of the investigation “could not be shared beyond the involved parties, as with any disciplinary process for any staff member, the process is confidential until complete”.
The former chief executive officer, once hailed for his vision to grow the group, was appointed on 1 August 2015.
Truter had planned to expand the group’s controls and processes, and, at the time, had emphasised his “commitment to people’s development and empowerment”, as stated in an interview with The Namibian after his appointment.
Leeming said the ongoing management of the Pupkewitz Group of Companies would remain in the hands of the group’s executive committee.
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