Guys (and gals) I don’t know how many times we have to say this but please, please don’t bang people you work with. There are like three billion men or women in the world for you to pick from (6 billion if you’re bisexual heck yeah *high five*); more precisely there are 2.3 billion adults between the ages of 20 and 39 across the globe, add another 1.8 billion to that if you’re into cougars (in which case hey, call me) and that gives you 4.1 billion/2 people to potentially bang. There is absolutely no justifiable reason to shit where you eat, no person who works for a public accounting firm is that irresistibly hot (although Bob Moritz comes close, hey Bob you should call me too).
KPMG warned us about hooking up with people we work with, you know. In fiscal 2014 the House of Klynveld investigated 18 reports of “improper relationships,” 7 of which were substantiated which then spurred the firm to send out a whole newsletter warning their people to stop doing it (er, each other). It’s hard to imagine anyone would want to bang KPMG employees even KPMG employees but hey, those windowless audit rooms do get pretty hot and lonely.
Well it seems Deloitte did not have the same foresight to send a memo on the matter and now there’s some relationship drama boiling over at Deloitte’s London office.
Ex-manager Katrina Jones sued the firm late last year (brief mention in Footnotes here) claiming that her messy entanglement with then-partner Christopher Holliday — who interviewed her for an analyst job in 2015 — caused psychiatric harm due to his “oppressive, manipulative and abusive” behavior when the tryst fell apart. Being so smitten with her exceptional interview skills seven years ago Holliday got her a flat in London and a hot office romance with an old guy, himself. The affair did not last long, as Holliday quickly revealed himself to be kind of a dick while they were hooking up and a major dick after their coupling was over (allegedly).
One example of what Jones said was Holliday’s abusive behaviour towards her related to how he “behaved horribly” to her during an event for a colleague at a pub in 2016.
In her claim, Jones said Holliday “became extremely angry; pacing about and ranting in the rain. He shouted, acted aggressively, gesticulated wildly and swore,” at her. He then “kicked her handbag and threw her umbrella across” a McDonald’s restaurant, her claim said.
Later at his flat, Jones alleged that Holliday slammed a bathroom door on her arm “repeatedly,” which left her “badly bruised.”
When their romance came to an end in 2017, Holliday “began acting in a stalkerish and intimidatory manner” towards her at the office said Jones. He would walk past her desk and stare creepily or purposely use the printer right by her desk so he could creepily stare some more. She brought her concerns to an HR manager at Deloitte in 2018 at which point even colleagues had observed Holliday being a weirdo at the printer.
Deloitte denied the self-report about stalking by Holliday. The firm also denied that Jones had reported Holliday’s alleged controlling behaviour.
Deloitte said that staff noticed Holliday was deliberately using a printer close to Jones’s desk following the breakdown of their relationship. Still, it said: “No admissions are made to alleged loitering or staring.”
Jones says in her claim that Deloitte did nothing to stop his behavior. “Instead, they conducted an investigation into his conduct with the goal of protecting Mr Holliday and retaining him in his senior position within the company,” she said.
So where are the ex-lovebirds now? eFinancialCareers catches us up:
Neither Jones nor Holliday appear to work for Deloitte anymore. It’s not clear what Jones is doing now, but Holliday – who is not a party to the current court case – left in 2019 and is reportedly running a pub in Kent and has a “lavish lifestyle” involving a boat and motorbike.
Oooh no not a motorbike! That scamp.
We’ll keep you posted on the suit. In the meantime, please repeat after me: DO. NOT. BANG. COLLEAGUES.
