American Airlines and SAP Concur have condemned Global Business
Travel Association CEO Scott Solombrino's workplace behavior as alleged in an
anonymous memo sent to the GBTA board of directors on June 8th.
The airline outlined its position in a statement sent to
BTN on Monday.
“American Airlines strongly condemns the alleged behavior
of Scott Solombrino. We applaud the GBTA staff who courageously brought these
concerns to light, as well as the GBTA organization and their efforts to launch
an immediate and thorough investigation. We will await those results.
"American prides itself on an inclusive culture that
welcomes and respects all people, from all walks of life. We expect the same
from our partners, and believe any behavior to the contrary must be stamped out
if an organization is to succeed. We trust that GBTA will get to the bottom of
these accusations quickly, take appropriate and swift action, and protect an
organization that has traditionally been a strong partner in the travel
industry.”
SAP Concur chief marketing officer Chris Juneau wrote in a
Monday blog post that his company already had severed ties with GBTA until future
notice.
He wrote, "… we have terminated our relationship with
the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) on the national and the
international levels. We have been deeply troubled by recent allegations about
misogyny in its workplace, incendiary comments toward an elected official by
its chief executive officer and reports of a hostile work environment. While we
believe in due process and will not pre-judge the outcome of this ongoing
situation, we are resigning our corporate membership and executive committee
seats. We will not be involved with GBTA until we are convinced the underlying
issues have been fully addressed."
Solombrino has rejected the misconduct allegations as an unsubstantiated smear campaign. The GBTA board placed the CEO on leave as of June 19th, pending an investigation into the matter.