The Guardian apologizes for handling the harassment complaint

Guardian News & Media, the publisher of the Guardian and Observer newspapers, has apologized to at least one woman for handling her complaint that one of its star columnists, Nick Cohen, groped her in the newsroom.

The company has also told the staff that that it was changing the way it investigates sexual harassment complaints. The apology and policy changes follow a New York Times investigation last month in which seven women said Mr. Cohen had groped them or made other unwanted sexual advances for nearly two decades.

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, and CEO, Anna Bateson, wrote one of those women, Lucy Siegle, an email Monday morning.

“We would like to apologize for your experience of sexual harassment by an Observer employee and the way your complaint was handled,” the email read.

Ms. Siegle complained in 2018 that Mr. Cohen had grabbed her by the butt in the newsroom many years earlier. She accused the newspaper of failing to follow up on her complaint, saying an editor instead defended Mr Cohen.

“Everyone should feel safe at work and in the presence of their colleagues, and the incident you describe is absolutely unacceptable,” Ms Viner and Ms Bateson wrote.

Going forward, business leaders will no longer investigate harassment complaints themselves. “All sexual harassment allegations will be investigated by independent, third-party third parties rather than GNM senior executives,” the company said in a message to staff obtained by The Times.

Outsiders will also hold disciplinary hearings regarding gross misconduct uncovered by those investigations, the company said.

The Guardian has appointed a consultancy, Howlett Brown, to act as an “independent point of contact until the end of September” for anyone wishing to report current or historical issues or “raise concerns about GNM’s policy or culture regarding sexual harassment. The company said Howlett Brown found the policy was generally strong last year.

“I feel immensely relieved and a little elated,” said Ms. Siegle. “It just takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I feel like I can move forward, which I haven’t been able to do for a while.”

Mr Cohen was a columnist for The Observer for 20 years before stepping down in January. He did not respond to specific allegations from The Times. “I have written extensively about my alcoholism. I got clean seven years ago in 2016,” he said last month. “I look back on my addicted life with deep shame.”