In the letter, her lawyers said she remained at West Ham because Sullivan always denied the allegation and she relied “on the principle of presumption of innocence in continuing to work at the club”.
Asked by the BBC whether Brady saw any contradiction between her support for women’s rights and working for a man who was perceived to present sufficient risk to women and younger people that he was prevented from contacting them at his own football club, her lawyers said there wasn’t one.
“There is no inconsistency or hypocrisy between our client advocating for the protection of women and respecting the confidential safeguarding investigation and process that was being managed by the appropriate safeguarding professionals and statutory authorities,” they said.
Brady has worked with Sullivan for the best part of four decades. She worked for his Sport newspapers before he named the then-23-year-old managing director of Birmingham City after taking over the club in 1993.
After buying West Ham with business partners in 2010, Sullivan installed Baroness Brady as vice-chair and she helped negotiate the club’s move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016.
At the time of her departure, she issued a statement saying it had “been a privilege to work alongside the board, management, players, staff and supporters at West Ham United”.
Baroness Brady has been a member of the House of Lords since 2014 and has served as one of Lord Sugar’s assistants on The Apprentice for 16 years.