Brewdog’s chief executive James Watt has brought in private investigators to tackle what the company has described as a “criminal campaign” intent on damaging his reputation.
An article in the Guardian says people working for Integritas Investigative Solutions approached a former colleague of one of the ex-Brewdog employees who was interviewed for a BBC documentary about the beer firm.
The documentary, entitled The Truth About Brewdog, accused Mr Watt of inappropriate behaviour towards women and of fostering an unpleasant work culture.
The Guardian report says the former colleague was asked what they thought about the man quoted in the programme, and how they’d found working with him.
The article says a friend of a female former acquaintance of Mr Watt was also approached by Integritas, after she received several messages from the brewery boss himself over e-mail and social media.
Claims of ‘plot to bring James down’
A Brewdog spokesperson told the newspaper: “James Watt has been subjected to a two-year criminal campaign of online harassment, defamation, fraud, blackmail and malicious communications, instigated by a very small group of individuals.
“Investigators were hired to find the source of these false allegations, to seek to bring this to an end.”
In a statement released through LinkedIn, Mr Watt explained why Brewdog has brought in investigators.
He said: “This campaign began when appalling lies about me were sent by third parties, operating through troll accounts to a large number of my social media connections. In their own words they been working together on ‘a plot to bring James down’.
“We subsequently engaged the services of digital investigative specialists to seek to identify the source of these damaging and false allegations and identify the individuals who defrauded me. As a direct result of those actions, and following a court order obtained from the high court based on written evidence, we were able to identify individuals involved.
“I have a duty to act in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors: this duty extends to protecting the business from malicious individuals who wish to cause us harm.
“The objective of our inquiries was to understand the extent of the campaign against us and to take appropriate legal action to bring it to an end.”
He added criminal and civil proceedings are now under way.
Mr Watt went on: “Criticism of our business is fine and often warranted – I fully accept that. Colluding in illegal activity to damage me or the business is not.”