Lewis Silkin advised Oxfam against naming staff that allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct while working for the charity in Haiti, according to a letter published in the International Development Committee's report on sexual exploitation in the aid sector.

The charity sought advice from the law firm in August 2011, following allegations of misconduct by its staff in Haiti after the earthquake that hit the country in 2010.

According to the report, which was published in full today (31 July), the employment specialist firm told Oxfam that it "would not be prudent" to name of any of the employees involved – or the types of misconduct being investigated – to either donors or external bodies as it would "open us to charges of defamation of character" by the accused staff.

In attached extracts of Lewis Silkin's advice, the charity was told: "If you decide that you want to publicise the precise allegations, you should be aware that all of those who have been dismissed/left are likely to be tarred with the same brush in terms of the nature of allegations – this could potentially lead to a defamation claim against us."

Oxfam was also warned of a potential "press war" in which "the employee might make potentially damaging (whether true or untrue) statements about Oxfam".

According to a letter from former Oxfam chief executive Dame Barbara Stocking to the International Develoment Committee, the charity took legal advice on whether prostitution was or was not illegal in Haiti, and was told that it was not. Stocking added that "even if the use of prostitutes had been a criminal offence, it is unclear that there would have been a legal requirement for Oxfam to report this to the local authorities".

This followed a "detailed investigation" into whether minors had been exploited by Oxfam staff, which concluded that minors were not involved.

According to Stocking, the charity was told that the "use of prostitutes is still only illegal in a handful of countries in the world", meaning "there was no evidence [...] that crimes had been committed by any of the Oxfam staff".

Oxfam was not the only charity to take advice from Lewis Silkin with regards to allegations of inappropriate behaviour by members of its staff.

In May, Legal Week revealed that Save the Children opted not to reopen a disciplinary investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by former chief executive Justin Forsyth, on the basis of advice from Lewis Silkin, which was supported by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

According to the charity's former chair Sir Alan Parker, Save the Children was advised by Lewis Silkin that there would be "no good reason" to reopen an investigation into Forsyth after issues were raised by complainants about the handling of their reports, as there had been "no new allegations". Freshfields "agreed" with Lewis Silkin's advice and the charity's trustees unanimously chose not to reopen the investigation.

Lewis Silkin declined to comment.

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