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Big 4 Lawsuits: Ex-PwC Director vs. PwC, Billionaire vs. Deloitte, Floridians vs. Deloitte

On the docket: age and gender discrimination, tax break gone bad, and the latest on the Deloitte drama in Florida.

Axed PwC Director Alleges Age, Gender Bias [Law360]
Another week, another age and gender discrimination lawsuit filed against a Big 4 firm. And once again PwC is named as the defendant:

A former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP director accused the company of systemically clearing out older female workers in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Pennsylvania federal court, roping PwC into a fresh age bias battle after it ponied up nearly $12 million in March to settle similar charges.

Pamela McCarey said in her complaint that she was sidelined and ultimately given the boot last year after more than two decades with the company as part of PwC’s effort to hire younger male faces.

“Plaintiff’s combination of age and sex was a determinative and motivating factor in the decision to terminate her employment,” she said.

Among other things, she pointed to PwC’s controversial policy that all partners must retire by age 60, a practice that has already landed before federal courts all over the country.

According to Law360, McCarey said in her complaint that the mandatory retirement policy stymied her advancement at the House of Ryan because when she reached 60, she couldn’t apply for a partner position.

She’ll be hoping for a similar outcome as the verdict against PwC in March in which a judge ruled in favor of two accountants who claimed the hiring policies at PwC discriminated against applicants over the age of 40 from landing entry-level positions at the firm.

The Olds vs. PwC: $11.625 Million Settlement Reached In Age Discrimination Case

Billionaire Chris Rokos Sues Two Firms for $72 Million Over Tax Advice [Bloomberg]
And one of those two firms is Big D:

Billionaire Chris Rokos, who runs the hedge fund that bears his name, sued Deloitte and a U.S. law firm after 39.4 million pounds ($52 million) in tax relief was thrown out by U.K. authorities.

Rokos sued his advisers over a decade-old investment in a commercial development that was supposed to yield a significant tax break. But in 2016, authorities rejected the claim and demanded payment of the full amount Rokos “had claimed as capital allowances,” his lawyers said in a London court filing earlier this month.

A spokesperson for McDermott, Will & Emery said that the claim is without merit and the law firm would “defend this vigorously.” Deloitte declined to comment as did a spokesman for Rokos.

Rokos, who claims Deloitte and MWE should have provided more warning about the risky nature of the investment, seeks more than £53 million in the lawsuit.

Revised Lawsuit Filed Over Unemployment Problems [CBS Miami]
Attorneys representing a group of Florida residents who had trouble obtaining unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic and blame the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Deloitte Consulting (which built the craptastic unemployment benefit claims system) have filed a revised class-action lawsuit against the state and D-town seeking damages:

The amended complaint makes a series of allegations and contends, in part, that the department and Deloitte were negligent and breached a fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs, who lost their jobs during the pandemic and faced problems getting unemployment benefits.

The department administers the unemployment program, while Deloitte was a contractor that helped put in place the CONNECT online system, which could not handle the crush of unemployment applications this spring.

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper dismissed the lawsuit on Sept. 30 but gave plaintiffs’ attorneys an extension to file an amended complaint.

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