Two women who claimed that their millionaire boss made improper advances at an office party are facing a £300,000 claim for damages.

Michail Watford, 53, a Russian property tycoon, has issued a writ against his former employees, Therese Hanrahan and Angela Zarco, after they accused him in e-mails of sexually harassing them at an office party. Mr Watford claims that the two women damaged his reputation by sending copies of their formal complaints to friends and colleagues.

The women — who were employed in the computer department of High Life Developments, Mr Watford’s property firm — made official complaints in December after a staff Christmas party. They alleged that Mr Watford and another employee, Jeremy Tyler, sexually harassed them.

A writ lodged at the High Court states that Ms Hanrahan, from Hammersmith, West London, complained to a senior manager that she had been angered and distressed by her boss’s alleged behaviour and demanded an apology. She addressed her complaint to Charles Tyler, Jeremy’s brother, who did not attend the party.

The writ claims that she also sent a copy of the e-mail to two other colleagues and her boyfriend, Christopher Carrodus, a lawyer at Dechert, an international law company.

It is claimed that Ms Zarco, 31, from Lewisham, South London, sent a similar e-mail to Charles Tyler outlining the allegations and copied it to another colleague.

Mark Boardman, Mr Waford’s solicitor, said: “These women’s allegations are false and they are strenuously denied by my client.”

Mr Watford is also seeking an injunction to prevent Ms Hanrahan and Ms Zarco from repeating the allegations.

A spokesman for Dechert, the company acting for the women, declined to comment. Neither Ms Zarco and Ms Hanrahan remain at High Life.

Mr Watford, who made his fortune in the energy business, is understood to have business interests in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey. His British business, based in King’s Road, Chelsea, is described as a “company specialising in bespoke property development and interior design at the luxury end of the housing market”. He lives in a £7 million home in Virginia Water, Surrey, one of the wealthiest locations in England. The writ states that Mr Watford has been “seriously injured in his personal and professional reputation and has been caused considerable distress and embarrassment”.

An associate of Mr Watford who did not wish to be named played down the allegations. He told The Daily Telegraph: “This is a dispute between a group of people who used to be colleagues which has been blown out of all proportion.”

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