Startup firm FIRES six employees for ‘harassment’ during work ‘team building’ trip to Cyprus
- Checkout.com began a probe in May within 24 hours of concerns being raised
- As a result, six employees on the 120-strong commercial team were dismissed
- Firm is UK’s most valuable fintech and works with likes of Pizza Hut and Klarna
- Do you have information about this story? Email [email protected]
A British payments unicorn has fired six members of staff after harassment complaints relating to a team-building trip to Cyprus.
Checkout.com – which was valued at £34billion at the start of the year – began an investigation in May within 24 hours of concerns being raised about employee behaviour on the week-long break.
As a result, the London-based company ended the contracts of six people on its 120-strong commercial team. The exact nature of the complaints has not been revealed.
Checkout.com – which was valued at £34billion at the start of the year – began an investigation in May within 24 hours of concerns being raised
‘We have a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior that is not in line with our values. Any complaint will always be taken seriously and acted on,’ the firm told Bloomberg.
Do you have information about this story?
Email [email protected]
‘Since May, we have carried out mandatory in-person workplace culture training for the UK Commercial team facilitated by an external provider, and have developed a standalone Harassment & Bullying Policy to strengthen our existing framework.’
Chief Revenue Officer Nick Worswick sent an email to staff in May to announce the company was getting rid of two members of staff following complaints.
In the message, he said the firm would not tolerate any kind of harassment, according to insiders.
Checkout, which processes payments and provides fraud detection software for companies including Pizza Hut and Klarna, has more than 1,700 employees in 19 countries.
It was founded by entrepreneur Guillaume Pousaz, a Swiss national who dropped out of university in 2005 after his father fell ill with cancer.
Checkout, which processes payments and provides fraud detection software for companies including Pizza Hut and Klarna, has more than 1,700 employees in 19 countries
After moving to California to surf, he took a job with a payments processing firm after running out of money.
In 2012, he founded Checkout, which at the start of the year became Britain’s highest valued fintech after a wave of investment from the Qatar Investment Authority and Tiger Global Management, an American investment firm.
Concerns over incidents of harassment at Checkout follow a wave of similar claims at City firms.
Companies are toughening up their procedures in response, including by appointing ‘sober supervisors’ to keep staff in check.
MailOnline has contacted Checkout for comment.
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