(Bloomberg) -- SAP SE’s former Chief Technology Officer Jürgen Müller, who abruptly left the company in September months after signing a contract extension, stepped down after being accused of touching the rear of a female colleague at an office party, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The incident, which has not been reported previously, allegedly happened at a farewell party for a longtime SAP manager at the German software company’s Berlin office on March 27, the people said, asking not to be identified because details of the incident aren’t public.
SAP learned about the accusations in July when two employees who said they witnessed the situation filed compliance reports, one of the people said. In early September, the Walldorf-based company announced in a statement Müller would leave by the end of the month due to what he called at the time “inappropriate” behavior at a company event.
Helge Reich, Müller’s attorney, said his client has a right not to be identified by the media in any reporting of the allegations, as the accusations are particularly damaging.
“We do not comment on any individual investigations or personnel actions,” an SAP spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding the company takes “all allegations of misconduct extraordinarily seriously.” SAP has “a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behavior of any kind,” the spokesperson said.
Müller had been a member of the executive board since 2019 and is the most senior executive at SAP to step down due to inappropriate conduct. Concerns about the corporate culture at Europe’s most valuable technology firm are not new. Employees have previously complained about incidents of bullying and harassment that keep women under-represented in executive positions, as well as heavy drinking at company-hosted events that led to problematic behavior.
“If we ascertain that an employee’s behavior contradicts our policies and values, we take appropriate action,” the spokesperson said, adding SAP has a robust process in place for investigating reported issues.
Müller, who spearheaded SAP’s platform unit and led efforts to integrate SAP’s cloud acquisitions into a unified software suite, joined the company in 2013. In April, he received a contract extension until the end of 2027.
Prosecutors in Heidelberg, the region where SAP is based, opened a criminal probe into a manager at a large software company over an allegation of sexual harassment, a spokesman for the agency said in September after SAP announced Müller’s departure. The manager was Müller, people familiar with the matter said.
Reich, Müller’s attorney, said the media can’t report on the alleged incident, including the fact that prosecutors are probing his client.
In October, the case was transferred to Berlin prosecutors because the alleged incident took place in the German capital, according to the investigators.
Berlin prosecutors said in an emailed statement that they can’t provide any details about the case due to privacy concerns.
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