(Adding details from letter to staff and background)
By Ludwig Burger
FRANKFURT, March 24 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline has
dismissed Moncef Slaoui, former U.S. government vaccine chief,
as chairman of a company controlled by the British drugmaker
after an internal investigation found he had sexually harassed a
GSK employee several years ago.
GSK said the termination of Slaoui's contract at Galvani
Bioelectronics was with immediate effect. Slaoui, the former
chief adviser to the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine development programme
known as Operation Warp Speed, was not immediately reachable for
comment by telephone and LinkedIn account.
GSK said an investigation of Slaoui’s conduct had
substantiated allegations of harassment and inappropriate
contact, adding that the probe was ongoing.
The termination of Slaoui’s contract follows receipt of a
letter containing the allegations of inappropriate conduct
towards the employee of GSK, the company said in a statement.
GSK said the allegations stemmed from when Slaoui was an
employee of GSK.
In a letter to staff and reviewed by Reuters, GSK CEO Emma
Walmsley said the company has been dealing with the allegations
since February.
"Dr. Slaoui’s behaviours represent an abuse of his
leadership position and violate our company policies, our
values, and our commitment to Trust – a commitment I know is
shared by all of you," she said.
Galvani is a bioelectronic medicines company set up in 2016
by GlaxoSmithKline and Verily, the life sciences unit of Google
parent Alphabet.
Prior to his role at Galvani, Slaoui spent nearly 30 years
at GlaxoSmithKline holding various leadership roles including
Head of Pharmaceutical R&D and Chairman of its Vaccines
division.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appointed Slaoui to lead
his administration's effort to produce and distribute COVID-19
vaccines last year. He resigned from the post in January ahead
of the incoming administration of President Joe Biden.
Executive behaviour and treatment of employees has been
under scrutiny over the past few years following the #MeToo
social media movement prompting a string of high-profile
boardroom departures.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, additional reporting by Mike Erman
and Manas Mishras; editing by Louise Heavens and Josephine
Mason)