Baker McKenzie was on the verge of unveiling former London head Gary Senior as its U.K. gender champion when an investigation into his behavior arose due to claims of sexual misconduct, a tribunal heard today.

The firm’s former U.K. human resources head Martin Blackburn said during his first day of cross-examination on Monday that Baker McKenzie was about to send a firm-wide announcement that Senior had become its gender champion when the internal investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct was taking place.