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Sexual harassment

EY Hong Kong Consultant Alleges Sexual Assault, Bullying, and Ghislaine Maxwelling By Her Superiors in This Detailed Account

Late last week, South China Morning Post reported that a consultant at EY Hong Kong has accused Steven Xiong, Head of Greater China Business Consulting, of sexually harassing and assaulting her and another colleague at a karaoke bar. It appears the accuser, Nicole Wang, has written a detailed account of the incident in which she […]

Number of the Day: 63

That is the number of workplace conduct complaints and/or investigations that were disclosed by the Big 4 firms in Australia during financial year 2021, according to the Australian Financial Review. The article today by AFR (which is worth your time reading in its entirely) focuses on sexual harassment and bullying complaints at EY Oceania during […]

Just Think, An EY UK Partner Was Allowed to Keep His Job After (Allegedly) Telling a Female Co-Worker This (UPDATE)

[UPDATE] Neil Hutt quit or was forced to resign or whatever. Point is, he no longer works at EY in the UK. From the The Times of London on Nov. 13: EY, the Big Four accountancy group, has accepted the resignation of one of its partners, who told a female trainee “I’m going to f*** […]

Let’s Play a Game of ‘Which Big 4 Firm(s) In India Does This Bad Look Belong To?’

A tipster sent us this blurb that was published in the Suits & Sayings section of the Economic Times last weekend: When I first saw this, my first thought was that the Big 4 firm where the partner was supposedly sexually harassing women co-workers is EY in India, given its history of it allegedly happening […]

KPMG Agrees to $10 Million Deal with Female KPMGers In Lengthy Gender Discrimination Case

It took 10 years but an age bias lawsuit first filed against KPMG in 2011 by former senior manager Donna Kassman that now includes eight other plaintiffs and hundreds of other KPMG ladies, a vast majority of whom no longer work for the firm, is finally reaching the end of the road. Law360 reported yesterday: […]

Big 4 Lawsuits: Karen Ward vs. EY, Choppies vs. PwC, Floridians vs. Deloitte Consulting

EY, Female Ex-Principal End Lawsuit Over Bias Arbitration Costs [Bloomberg Law] Have we mentioned before how much Big 4 firms love it when claims against them by former employees go to arbitration? EY and a female former principal allegedly subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, and other sex discrimination throughout her time with the firm agreed […]

Ex-EY Partner Karen Ward Dealt Setback In NY Federal Court

Law360 has the latest on Karen Ward, the former head of real estate investment banking at EY, who asked a Manhattan federal court last July to invalidate the arbitration agreement she signed several years ago that has prevented her from suing EY over claims she was a victim of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation, […]

There Will Be Two Fewer Drunk People at BDO U.K.’s Holiday Party This Year

Not looking to be the next EY, BDO U.K. is taking steps this year to ensure female staff can enjoy themselves at firm holiday parties without worrying about getting groped by randy colleagues. How? By suggesting a pair of squares stay sober to monitor the festivities. In an internal memo obtained by The Financial Times, […]

Report: Big 4 Firms Are Cesspools For Sexual Harassment, Bullying, and Discrimination

Did you guys read the Financial Times’ article today about the “culture of fear” at the Big 4? If you have a subscription or know a trick around the paywall, you should carve out some time to read it. FT spoke with 20 ex-Big 4 employees who were victims of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination […]

Ex-EY Partner Karen Ward ‘Not Surprised’ By ‘Appalling’ Training Seminar for Women

Karen Ward, the former EY partner who alleges she was a victim of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation during her tenure with the firm, said she wasn’t shocked to learn about the 1950 2018 training seminar that EY hosted for women leaders, in which attendees were told, among other things, not to flaunt their […]

EY’s Response to N.Y. Lawmakers’ Letter About Sexual Harassment and Forced Arbitration Is As Bad As You’d Expect

Last week, Adrienne wrote about a letter 67 New York state legislators recently signed and sent to new EY Global Chairman and CEO Carmine Di Sibio denouncing the firm’s practice of forced arbitration agreements, especially in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination. The lawmakers wrote that EY’s forced arbitration policy silences victims of harassment and […]

New York Lawmakers Call Out EY’s ‘Culture of Harassment and Discrimination’

It’s rare, especially these days, that bipartisan lawmakers can agree on an issue, but in the case of EY sexual harassment lawsuits they’ve managed to do just that. In a letter to new EY Chairman and CEO Carmine Di Sibio, 67 New York State Legislators, led by Senators Liz Krueger and Alessandra Biaggi, and Assemblymembers […]

Arbitration Costs Mounting For Ex-EY Partner Who Claims She Was Sexually Harassed

A declaratory judgment complaint filed on July 17 is asking a Manhattan federal court to invalidate the arbitration agreement that has prevented former EY partner Karen Ward, who alleges she was a victim of sexual harassment and pay discrimination, from taking the firm to court. According to the complaint, to have Ward’s sexual harassment claims […]

Oh Look, EY Is On the Receiving End Of Another Sexual Harassment Complaint

After we recently reported on sexual harassment allegations made against male executives at EY U.S. and EY Switzerland by former female employees, Adrienne and I got an email from a woman by the name of Ana Raquel Villanueva who told us that she, too, was a victim of sexual harassment while employed at EY in […]

EY Won’t Waive Arbitration Provision for Ex-Partner Who Says She Was Victim of Sexual Harassment

Last September, we reported on a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by former EY partner Karen Ward, who accused her former employer of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. A couple of days after filing the complaint, Ward sent an open letter to EY Global Chairman and CEO Mark Weinberger, asking him […]

EY Switzerland Managing Partner Accused of Sexual Harassment Has Been Relieved of His Duties

The outside investigation into accusations of sexual harassment at EY Switzerland has been completed, and the accused harasser, a male managing partner who also served as the firm’s chief talent officer, has been shown the door. But according to published reports in Switzerland and confirmed to Going Concern by several sources, the law firm engaged […]

Marcel Stalder Is Out as CEO of EY Switzerland

A couple weeks ago, we got an email from a tipster who told us that EY Switzerland CEO Marcel Stalder was “dead meat” due to the firm’s handling of sexual harassment allegations made against a male managing partner by a former female associate. Well, turns out this person was right; Stalder has stepped down as […]

Here Is More Proof That EY Switzerland Is a Total Frat House

Well, guys, we learned today that at an EY Switzerland holiday party a few years ago, Santa Claus got an erotic lap dance on stage in front of about 200 people. And the man dressed like jolly ol’ Saint Nick is a partner in the firm’s banking practice, and the woman grinding on his lap […]

EY Switzerland Suspends Chief Talent Officer Accused of Sexual Harassment

The chief talent officer at EY Switzerland was suspended by the firm today pending an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations made by a former EY female associate, who claims the male executive made inappropriate comments about her breasts, made sexual advances toward her, and then bullied her when she rejected him, according to published […]

KPMG, PwC, and EY Also Kicked U.K. Partners to the Curb for Sexual Harassment, Bullying

We learned on Dec. 9 that Deloitte U.K. had fired about 20 partners in the past four years for inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment and bullying. The Financial Times, which broke the story, had asked the other Big 4 firms in the U.K. if they would disclose similar information. They declined. But KPMG, PwC, and […]

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Deloitte U.K. Fired 20 Partners for Being Scumbags

Over the past four years, Deloitte U.K. has gotten rid of about 20 partners for inappropriate behavior, including sexual harassment and bullying, the firm’s CEO, David Sproul, told the Financial Times in an article published on Dec. 9. “We will fire people for any inappropriate behaviour. No one is protected,” said David Sproul. “There has […]

Federal Judge Sides with KPMG in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

KPMG scored a huge victory in court on Nov. 30, as a New York federal court judge declined to certify a long-running class-action lawsuit by thousands of current and former female KPMG tax and advisory professionals who accused the firm of gender, pay, and promotion discrimination dating back to 2008. While the ruling bars the […]

Female KPMG Employees Seek Class Status in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit, Detail Alleged Sexual Misconduct at the Firm

There was a new development yesterday in the long-running gender bias lawsuit against KPMG, in which a group of current and former female advisory and tax professionals have accused the firm of gender, pay, and promotion discrimination, as well as condoning sexual harassment. Attorneys representing the plaintiffs filed a motion on Nov. 27 that asked […]

Ex-EY Partner to CEO Mark Weinberger: ‘Let’s Make EY a Better Place to Work for Women’

In a Sept. 26 letter to EY Global Chairman and CEO Mark Weinberger, former partner Karen Ward, who filed a sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation complaint against the firm earlier this week, invited the firm’s leadership and board of directors to meet with her to “discuss my experiences at EY and additional ways in […]

Another Former EY Partner Has Filed a Sexual Harassment Complaint Against the Firm

[Updated on Sept. 25 with allegations from the complaint, full statement from EY, and full statement from attorney Michael Willemin.] A former female partner at EY filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Sept. 24, accusing the firm of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. This is the second such complaint filed […]

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If EY Treats a Partner Who Reports Sexual Misconduct Like This, What Hope Do Other Employees Have?

Update in the 18th paragraph includes an additional statement from Ernst & Young. One of the more shocking details from the sexual harassment complaint against Ernst & Young is that even though the victim, Jessica Casucci, was a partner, other partners and senior officials in the firm either did nothing or took action to protect […]

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Reminder, Creepy Accountants: Offering to Teach a Subordinate About Tax Returns Is Not an Opportunity to Get All Handsy

Here’s a story from November (yeah, I know, but it’s January 3rd) about a “68-year-old Manhattan accountant” who “lured his 23-year-old clerk to his home office by saying he wanted to teach her about income-tax returns — then claimed God wanted her to be his sexual plaything.” I don’t have to tell any of you […]

Team Foreskin and the Spreadsheet Jockey: Sexual Harassment in Public Accounting

At the client site on a Wednesday afternoon, one of the seniors started talking about a coworker. “She’s hot. I told her I wanted to put it in her butt.”

Deloitte Seeks to Dismiss Headhunter’s Claims of Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination

Last month, we told you about a lawsuit filed in New York by the ex wife of Mets great Art Shamsky. Kim Valentini-Shamsky is a recruiter (headhunter in the lawsuit) who alleges a laundry list of misdeeds by Deloitte, all brought on because she wouldn't bang the Deloitte guy she was sending candidates to. Deloitte's […]

Ex-Wife of Art Shamsky Back in Court to Sue Deloitte for Sexual Harassment

A lawsuit was quietly filed in New York on Tuesday, naming Deloitte and Big D Talent Director Louis Bastone as defendants. The charge? Sexual harassment. Well, sexual harassment and severe work-related cockblocking.

Marc Jacobs Says Former CFO Was Fired Because He Was Cooking the Books Not Because He Complained About a Pole Dance, All the Porn Floating Around

Marc Jacobs International claims that its former COO and CFO, Patrice Lataillade, got a little fancy with the company’s numbers in order to give himself “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bonuses. The Post reports that court documents state that audits revealed “false and inflated entries” for about $20 million or so. The company says Lataillade was fired from his job for all this financial hocus pocus,

This all came out because Lataillade sued the company alleging that he was fired for entirely different reason altogether. Apparently MJI co-founder and President Robert Duffy likes to have a little fun around the office that wasn’t appreciated by everyone, namely Mr. Lataillade.

“Examples of Duffy’s conduct which created a hostile work environment include his displaying gay pornography in the office and requiring employees to look at it; his production and dissemination of a book which includes photos of MJI staff in sexual positions or nude; his requirement that an MJI store employee perform a pole dance for him,” the suit said.

Accounting/finance types can be get a little stuffy, that’s a given but seeing co-workers in various compromising positions and/or working a pole at the boss’s behest could make for some awkward looks/conversations later. Not that it excuses running through some bullshit journal entries for your own personal financial benefit but I suppose there may be a legitimate beef in there.

Marc Jacobs COO fired for ‘cooking books’ not harassment: court filings [NYP]

Accounting News Roundup: Wells Fargo Comes Out Against FASB Fair Value Proposal; PwC Buying Diamond Management; MLB Teams Financials Leaked | 08.24.10

Wells Fargo “Strongly” Opposes Accounting Board’s New Rules on Loan Value [Bloomberg]
“Wells Fargo & Co., the largest home lender in the U.S., said it disagrees with an accounting board’s plan that would require banks to report the fair value of loans on their books.

‘We strongly oppose the expansion of fair value as the primary balance-sheet measurement attribute for virtually all financial instruments,’ Wells Fargo Controller Richard Levy wrote in the Aug. 19 letter. ‘It will only serve to cement a short-term focus on fair-value measures.’

Wells Fargo is the first of the largest U.S. banks to publish its p writers who named an affiliation, according to the Financial Accounting Standards Board website. The letter was written to officials at the board, which said in May that it may require banks to report the fair value and amortized cost of loans and some other financial instruments on their balance sheets.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers to Buy Consulting Firm Diamond Management [WSJ]
PwC is paying $378 million for Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, “[share]holders will get $12.50 a share, a 31% premium to Monday’s closing price. The stock, up 29% in 2010 through Monday, was last at the bid level three years ago.

‘This is an attractive all cash opportunity for our stockholders, creates exciting prospects for our people, and will provide us new and enhanced capabilities to bring to our clients,’ said Diamond President and Chief Executive Adam Gutstein. ‘There’s a clear strategic fit between PwC’s assets and aspirations and Diamond’s positioning.’ ”

Return prudence to accounting [FT]
“What a pity that ultra-theoretical standard-setters around the world have chosen to jettison prudence, a generally accepted accounting convention derived from more than 100 years of experience. This high-risk approach has led to absurdly lengthy and unrealistic annual reports that are now virtually incomprehensible.”

Sex Harassment at Work Gets Weirder, Scarier [Bloomberg]
“Not that I think it’s weird that a brokerage firm chief executive would pin a female clerk on the floor by putting his shoe on her breast (the right one, if you must know), or that some insurance company guy in Fullerton, California, would put a sample of his semen in a female colleague’s water bottle. Twice.

But it did get my attention when I started leafing through this year’s press releases from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and found a case where a supervisor allegedly said that women should outfit themselves in Vaseline, and nothing else; one where a manager in human resources (yes, in human resources) allegedly inquired as to the color of an assistant’s panties; and a case against a company president who the EEOC says pulled a subordinate’s pants down in front of her coworkers.”


Borders CFO resigns for new job [Reuters]
Mark Bierley is moving on after 12 years for a new gig.

Businesses Add iPads to Their Briefcases [WSJ]
“Apple, which said it sold more than three million iPads through the end of June, attributes some of the device’s success to businesses. The Cupertino, Calif., company’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said in July that ‘very surprisingly’ half of the Fortune 100 are testing or deploying iPads.

More than 500 of the 11,000-plus applications built specifically for the iPad are in the business category. A free app from Citrix Systems Inc., which allows people to access internal corporate programs from the iPad, has been downloaded more than 145,000 times.

‘Everyone in IT is jumping on this one,’ said Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research. ‘Rather than wait for people to start complaining they’re saying why don’t we get a few of them in and see what they are good for.’ ”

MLB Confidential: The Financial Documents Baseball Doesn’t Want You To See, Part 1 [Deadspin]
Deadspin got their hands on financial statements for several Major League Baseball teams and even the lowliest of clubs – namely the Pittsburgh Pirates – make truckloads for their owners: $20.4 million in partner distributions for fiscal year ’08.

The sports rag also has financial statements for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Florida Marlins and L.A. Angels. And as you might expect, people (MLB and the clubs’ people) are not happy.

In Other Words, “Our Numbers Are Good and My Old Boss Is a Pig.”

“We thought it was important for people to appreciate that the announcement today has nothing to do with the operational performance of the company, it is all about Mark’s behavior and judgment.”

~ HP Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak, who is now interim CEO after an abrupt resignation by Mark Hurd amid sexual harassment allegations.