The Free Speech Union (FSU) is reeling from internal grievances involving allegations of racism, workplace discrimination and sexually inappropriate remarks by senior members of staff, the Guardian can reveal.A key figure in the campaign group, the chief operating officer, Sigrun Olafsdottir, departed late last week after employees alleged that she told a junior member of staff she would “never hire a black person” as a part of a one-on-one meeting late last year.The organisation’s legislative affairs director, Sam Armstrong – who is also head of communications for the Reform MP Robert Jenrick – has meanwhile been accused of making staff members uncomfortable by discussing the American actor Sydney Sweeney’s “assets” in a meeting with more than a dozen staff.The claims cap a difficult period for the FSU, which was founded by the Conservative life peer Toby Young, and which critics see as a partisan rallying point for anti-woke grievance.And they may complicate how the organisation seeks to publicly present itself, as a nonpartisan group that seeks to defend “free speech” from the overreach of censorious authorities – one which often raises money from its 50,000 members to do so.FSU staff visited 10 Downing Street this week to deliver a petition on saving jury trials. Photograph: Free Speech Union/FacebookIn July, the Guardian reported that the US state department had allocated $5m to the international umbrella organisation that oversees the FSU, part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to promote rightwing causes in Europe.

The state department appeared to withdraw this grant after the Guardian reported on the allocation.In August, the Guardian reported on questions about the organisation’s practices around charity crowdfunding, centred on an instance in which the FSU appeared to raise £60,000 for a legal case that was ultimately fought pro-bono. Much of the FSU’s work consists of raising money for people who it argues have faced inappropriate consequences for exercising their right to free speech.Lord Young told the Guardian that that case was “not handled on an exclusively pro bono basis”, saying there was another lawyer involved and the person whose case it was had separate legal costs.These revelations have come alongside a period of internal turmoil.

Eight members of the FSU’s small staff have departed within the past year. The Guardian understands that a crucial part of this disquiet has been the allegation of racism against Olafsdottir.

The Guardian has spoken to multiple sources about these allegations and viewed documentation related to parts of the claims.Employees complained that Olafsdottir was frequently “hostile” towards younger members of staff. This alleged hostility was said to occur during the FSU’s in-person gatherings.The staff of the FSU work remotely but meet regularly for in-person events.

These often take place at pubs and hotels, with some personnel said to drink heavily late into the night. Employees of the FSU described blurred boundaries and instances of aggression and discriminatory behaviour on the part of some senior staff during these sessions.Olafsdottir and Armstrong declined to comment.

Young told the Guardian he could not comment on “internal employment matters”. On the incident in which Sydney Sweeney was discussed, he said it related to an FSU member’s case, adding: “There was therefore nothing untoward or unprofessional about the conversation.”Sources who spoke to the Guardian described Olafsdottir as a prominent presence in an organisation that employs slightly more than two dozen people across the UK and Scotland, and close to Young.Sam Armstrong – pictured in 2017 – talked at length about Sydney Sweeney’s ‘assets’ on a staff call, FSU colleagues said.

Photograph: Guy Corbishley/AlamyShe was not the only senior leader alleged to have made staff members uncomfortable. Several FSU staff members described discomfort at Armstrong’s behaviour.

They described an all-staff video meeting during which Armstrong discussed Sweeney’s physique, shortly after Sweeney had appeared in the controversial American Eagle “good jeans” ad. More than a dozen staff were present, and more than half were women.

Armstrong joked that Sweeney was the “biggest” story in free speech that week.“He [went] on to talk about her ‘assets’ at length. It was this continuous joke about her ‘assets,’” said a staff member who was on the call. “It was really stupid and really weird.”The Guardian has seen FSU text messages referring to the Sweeney episode.

In one of them, the FSU’s engagement director ribbed Armstrong and others as “a bunch of chaps so alpha in appreciation of Sydney Sweeney’s assets”.Armstrong, whose webpage describes him as a political consultant and journalist, attended one high-profile meeting between Young and Sarah B Rogers, a US state department official who has aggressively mocked the UK in public appearances.The group remains active in raising funds from its 50,000 members, and this week representatives visited 10 Downing Street to deliver a petition on saving jury trials.Staff who have left the organisation – many of them early in their careers – expressed a sense of betrayal to the Guardian over the workplace climate in the FSU. One suggested the prospect of funds from the state department, and blurred lines around crowdfunders, had eroded internal checks further.The FSU was “getting a bit cowboy” with “too much money sloshing around”, they said.