Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says allegations he behaved inappropriately at a public event this week are "absolutely, completely false."

In a statement issued Friday afternoon Ford denied the allegations of, in his words, "disgusting actions."

"I am shocked, dismayed and surprised. I can say without hesitation that they are absolutely, completely false," he said.

Ford's comments come in response to allegations levelled by former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson who, in an interview with CTV News Friday, recounted her version of events at an event hosted by the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee the night before.

"I went up to Mayor Ford and said 'Hi, how are you, good to see you. How come you weren't at our mayor's roundtable last week?' He said, 'Oh I was in Florida, you should have been there, my wife wasn't there'," Thomson said.

"I was really shocked at that point 'cause that is not the way Rob has ever behaved before and I've never seen him like that," she said.

And Thomson alleges Ford didn't stop there.

In a caption and comments accompanying an apparently candid picture taken at the event and posted afterwards on Thomson's Facebook page, she alleged that the mayor grabbed her behind.

"Thought it was a friendly hello to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at the CJPAC Action Party tonight until he suggested I should have been in Florida with him last week because his wife wasn't there," Thomson wrote in the status update. She added: "Seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Happy International Women's Day!"

Then, responding to another Facebook users' comments, she later wrote, "Frederick guess where his hand was in this picture? I must go shower...."

By just after noon Friday, the post had attracted 220 'Likes' and more than 1,010 comments.

In interviews Friday morning, the mayor's chief of staff said none of the team who spent the evening within earshot of Ford noticed anything inappropriate while the event was underway.

"I know that my staff never heard any of the comments that are alleged, I know that the mayor was in Florida with his wife and children last week and I know that I was about 20 feet away watching most of this happen and I saw her (Thompson) move into the circle for the photographs and she was happy and laughing when she walked away from that crowd," Mark Towhey told CP24.

"I also know that at no time did she talk to me or any of my staff about any concerns or issues that she had with the mayor."

But Thomson, who contested the 2010 mayoral election before dropping out to support George Smitherman, dismisses any suggestion her complaint is based on politics.

"It's not about a right or left issue. It's a right or wrong issue," she said, explaining she only wants an apology.

But in his statement, Ford made it clear that was not in the cards.

Instead, the mayor expressed his surprise that Thomson would, "cry wolf on a day where we should be celebrating women across the globe."

"This is a day we should all take the time to reflect upon the women in our lives and in our society," he said in apparent reference to International Women's Day.

With files from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson