EY says it will investigate any allegations as a matter of priority
EY says it will investigate any allegations as a matter of priority
EY whistleblowers have complained of discrimination and inappropriate conduct after a senior transgender employee left the accounting giant over bullying and a partner was fined for making a sexually offensive remark to a junior woman.
Current and former staff in the transaction advisory services (TAS) team, which is one ofEY's five core divisions and made £402m last year, described a culture they claimed protects partners from complaints about their conduct.
A series of incidents recounted to the Financial Times will add to scrutiny of the UK's largest accounting firms, which have been hit this year by a string of scandals.
Jennifer Fountain, an associate partner who is transgender, quit last month in response to alleged discriminatory behaviour by some partners, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Ms Fountain formally transitioned in January. She told EY bosses some of the team's leadership had "looked the other way" when she complained about her treatment, the person said.
One partner allegedly said transitioning would "hold back her career by two years" as she would have to "prove herself" as Jennifer. Another "outed" her in front of colleagues, while a third said it would not be "suitable" for her to attend a client meeting in women's clothing. Ms Fountain, who now works at advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal, declined to comment.
After a separate incident of alleged misconduct, Rob Moody, a partner since 2009, was moved this year from TAS's UK chief innovation officer to its CIO for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa despite complaints about his conduct from directors in his team, according to several people close to the matter.
As many as six directors have resigned from the firm or been moved off his team over the past 18 months, according to three insiders.
Complaints against Mr Moody included "unsustainable" pressure and setting "unrealistic" performance targets.
"There are partners who are driving sales but don't sell themselves. That drives a bullying culture as they put all the pressure on directors to get the numbers up," said one director who asked to leave Mr Moody's team.
Another director said she had complained to a female partner about pressure from Mr Moody to "get numbers we were supposed to be reporting to leadership higher". According to the director, the female partner "said it was not the first time she was hearing this and said she would help me move teams, but there was no action taken against Rob". Mr Moody was appointed to EY's partner selection panel.
In a third example of disquiet, several people within TAS criticised EY's disciplinary action against Neil Hutt, head of transaction support for the technology sector, after he made an offensive sexual remark to a junior female colleague in front of staff on an EY skiing trip this year.
Mr Hutt, a partner of 15 years, received a financial penalty from EY and was reported to the profession's regulator but has continued in his role. One senior employee said they feared Mr Hutt had not been otherwise penalised because he was perceived as a "rainmaker".
A series of incidents recounted to the Financial Times will add to scrutiny of the UK's largest accounting firms, which have been hit this year by a string of scandals. Image/123rf
In a fourth incident, a male TAS partner engaged in a relationship with a female team member despite having responsibility for her performance management, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The matter was not investigated by EY despite a number of partners being aware of the relationship, they said.
In a fifth episode, one of a small number of female black and minority ethnic women on TAS's partner promotion track resigned in June having complained about discrimination during the director promotion process some months earlier.
She claimed one partner had said her accent made her "hard to understand" during a panel interview.
"The reason I gave for leaving was that the values of EY do not live up to my personal values," she said.
She said she had told Steve Ivermee, UK head of TAS, that she disagreed with him when he told her EY was taking appropriate action to address her concerns.
Three BAME directors in TAS complained of a "utilisation gap" that meant non-white workers were receiving less work from partners than their white peers. EY has commissioned a business analyst to investigate and address the issue, two people with knowledge of the situation said.
One of the directors said "the partnership feels like a club and there is a white, male dominance in that club".
EY said: "We are committed to providing an inclusive workplace culture free of discrimination, intimidation and harassment of any kind for our 14,500 people and partners in the UK.
"We have investigated all of the cases reported to us. We encourage the FT to share information on the cases that have not been reported to us so that we can investigate as a matter of priority."
Mr Moody, Mr Hutt and Mr Ivermee did not respond to requests for comment.
