{"id":635977,"date":"2026-10-20T05:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/635977\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T05:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T05:34:09","slug":"rod-drury-accused-of-sexual-misconduct-xero-apologises-over-2017-complaint-handling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/635977\/","title":{"rendered":"Rod Drury accused of sexual misconduct: Xero apologises over 2017 complaint handling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">Police are still investigating the complaints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">In recent months, Xero has engaged Maria Dew KC to review the company\u2019s handling of the 2017 whistleblower complaint, which is now complete. <\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">Today, Xero board chair David Thodey and chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy issued an apology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cOn behalf of Xero and its current board, we unreservedly apologise to Ms Naylor and any former employee whose experience at that time did not reflect the standards we expect at Xero today,\u201d their statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cXero regrets any historical actions taken, or not taken, that fell short of the expectations and standards we now hold ourselves to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">In their joint statement, they said Xero had made a range of changes to its Code of Conduct and people practices following the 2017 complaint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">It has also introduced \u201cclear policies on workplace relationships\u201d and strengthened its governance and reporting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe can always seek to do better,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cThese actions build on the changes Xero has already made to its workplace practices over the last eight years and are intended to ensure that our approach continues to reflect leading practice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cWe remain focused on ensuring Xero\u2019s workplace now, and in the future, continues to be a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for every Xero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">Since Naylor\u2019s allegations were published, several other former staff have come forward alleging inappropriate behaviour from Drury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/new-complainant-alleges-sir-rod-drury-made-unwanted-advances-at-xero\/WGN4EVZQSFCY7MQV7VZVTGVZ5E\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/new-complainant-alleges-sir-rod-drury-made-unwanted-advances-at-xero\/WGN4EVZQSFCY7MQV7VZVTGVZ5E\/\">second complainant<\/a>, referred to as Amy, has alleged Drury made sexual advances when she was an employee at the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">Amy alleged Drury invited her to his apartment to discuss a job opportunity, but when she arrived, the meeting quickly turned inappropriate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">His former private chef Megan Ruddle become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/sir-rod-drurys-former-chef-becomes-third-woman-to-allege-unwanted-advances\/7GUL4YDL65E3LJQ4O6WJ2FFLYU\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/sir-rod-drurys-former-chef-becomes-third-woman-to-allege-unwanted-advances\/7GUL4YDL65E3LJQ4O6WJ2FFLYU\/\">the third woman<\/a> to allege he made unwanted advances towards her \u2013 claiming he repeatedly kissed her on the lips while she worked for him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"FxSPvgIxedhFU\" style=\"display:none\">Drury founded Xero in 2006 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/xero-ceo-rod-drury-stepping-down\/A6STTLFDZHMTUUVKZXS2VGI5F4\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/xero-ceo-rod-drury-stepping-down\/A6STTLFDZHMTUUVKZXS2VGI5F4\/\">stepped down as CEO<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\">Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police are still investigating the complaints. In recent months, Xero has engaged Maria Dew KC to review the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28357,5344,1117,34591,38860,43507,138,12797,114704,9948,1138,2740,52096,11518,208778,111,139,69,1118,193,1523,89970,17703,8183,1516,311745,59785,86495],"class_list":["post-635977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-28357","tag-accounting","tag-accused","tag-ally","tag-apologised","tag-apologises","tag-business","tag-complaint","tag-drury","tag-employee","tag-firm","tag-former","tag-handling","tag-misconduct","tag-naylor","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-other","tag-over","tag-rod","tag-sexual","tag-software","tag-staff","tag-unreservedly","tag-whistleblower","tag-xero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}