The Free Speech Union (FSU) is reeling from internal grievances involving allegations of racism, workplace discrimination and sexually inappropriate remarks by senior members of staff, the Guardian can reveal.<\/p>\n
A key figure in the campaign group, the chief operating officer, Sigrun Olafsdottir, departed late last week after employees alleged that she told a junior member of staff she would \u201cnever hire a black person\u201d as a part of a one-on-one meeting late last year.<\/p>\n
The organisation\u2019s legislative affairs director, Sam Armstrong \u2013 who is also head of communications for the Reform MP Robert Jenrick \u2013 has meanwhile been accused of making staff members uncomfortable by discussing the American actor Sydney Sweeney\u2019s \u201cassets\u201d in a meeting with more than a dozen staff.<\/p>\n
The claims cap a difficult period for the FSU, which was founded by the Conservative life peer Toby Young<\/a>, and which critics see as a partisan rallying point for anti-woke grievance.<\/p>\n And they may complicate how the organisation seeks to publicly present itself, as a nonpartisan group that seeks to defend \u201cfree speech\u201d from the overreach of censorious authorities \u2013 one which often raises money from its 50,000 members to do so.<\/p>\n FSU staff visited 10 Downing Street this week to deliver a petition on saving jury trials. Photograph: Free Speech Union\/Facebook<\/p>\n In July, the Guardian reported that the US state department had allocated $5m<\/a> to the international umbrella organisation that oversees the FSU, part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to promote rightwing causes in Europe. The state department appeared to withdraw this grant after the Guardian reported on the allocation.<\/p>\n In August, the Guardian reported on questions about the organisation\u2019s practices around charity crowdfunding, centred on an instance in which the FSU appeared to raise \u00a360,000<\/a> for a legal case that was ultimately fought pro-bono. Much of the FSU\u2019s work consists of raising money for people who it argues have faced inappropriate consequences for exercising their right to free speech.<\/p>\n Lord Young told the Guardian that that case was \u201cnot handled on an exclusively pro bono basis\u201d, saying there was another lawyer involved and the person whose case it was had separate legal costs.<\/p>\n These revelations have come alongside a period of internal turmoil. Eight members of the FSU\u2019s small staff have departed within the past year. The Guardian understands that a crucial part of this disquiet has been the allegation of racism against Olafsdottir. The Guardian has spoken to multiple sources about these allegations and viewed documentation related to parts of the claims.<\/p>\n Employees complained that Olafsdottir was frequently \u201chostile\u201d towards younger members of staff. This alleged hostility was said to occur during the FSU\u2019s in-person gatherings.<\/p>\n The staff of the FSU work remotely but meet regularly for in-person events. These often take place at pubs and hotels, with some personnel said to drink heavily late into the night. Employees of the FSU described blurred boundaries and instances of aggression and discriminatory behaviour on the part of some senior staff during these sessions.<\/p>\n Olafsdottir and Armstrong declined to comment. Young told the Guardian he could not comment on \u201cinternal employment matters\u201d. On the incident in which Sydney Sweeney was discussed, he said it related to an FSU member\u2019s case, adding: \u201cThere was therefore nothing untoward or unprofessional about the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Sources who spoke to the Guardian described Olafsdottir as a prominent presence in an organisation that employs slightly more than two dozen people across the UK and Scotland, and close to Young.<\/p>\n Sam Armstrong \u2013 pictured in 2017 \u2013 talked at length about Sydney Sweeney\u2019s \u2018assets\u2019 on a staff call, FSU colleagues said. Photograph: Guy Corbishley\/Alamy<\/p>\n She was not the only senior leader alleged to have made staff members uncomfortable. Several FSU staff members described discomfort at Armstrong\u2019s behaviour. They described an all-staff video meeting during which Armstrong discussed Sweeney\u2019s physique, shortly after Sweeney had appeared in the controversial American Eagle \u201cgood jeans\u201d ad<\/a>. More than a dozen staff were present, and more than half were women. Armstrong joked that Sweeney was the \u201cbiggest\u201d story in free speech that week.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [went] on to talk about her \u2018assets\u2019 at length. It was this continuous joke about her \u2018assets,\u2019\u201d said a staff member who was on the call. \u201cIt was really stupid and really weird.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guardian has seen FSU text messages referring to the Sweeney episode. In one of them, the FSU\u2019s engagement director ribbed Armstrong and others as \u201ca bunch of chaps so alpha in appreciation of Sydney Sweeney\u2019s assets\u201d.<\/p>\n