Intern also alleges that she was prevented from participating in the workplace culture review in 2023
A former intern of EY Australia is suing the big four consulting giant before the Federal Court for allegedly victimising her after she made a sexual harassment complaint against her manager, according to reports.
The former intern, who joined under EY's vacationer programme in late November 2022, also accused the firm of barring her from participating in the workplace culture review carried out by former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
The intern's accusations stem from a series of incidents involving her former manager at EY, which escalated to the point that made her feel "embarrassed, humiliated, and uncomfortable."
The manager's actions, as alleged in the intern's statement of claim, include regularly sitting close to the intern at work, and then eventually groping her and waiting outside the women's bathroom during a social event outside of work.
The intern raised the matter in EY's anonymous survey for the vacationer programme, and later made a formal complaint in March 2023.
But later that month, the intern was told by other EY staff members to move on, while colleagues who used to be friendly with her began avoiding her and making "snide comments."
She also alleged that between April and June in the same year that she was allocated less work than her peers and was told by supervisors that she wasn't meeting her target hours.
By May 2023, the intern also alleged that she was prevented from joining the workplace culture review carried out by former sex discrimination commissioner Broderick.
EY Australia's defence
A spokesperson from EY told the Australian Financial Review that it "cannot comment on matters before the court."
But its defence shows that it denied the intern has been victimised by the organisation.
It clarified that the company encouraged her to report the sexual harassment, and clarified that all employees were invited to take part in Broderick's workplace culture review.
"The survey process required only a limited number of participants ... once the sample was attained, participation was closed," EY's defence said.
The intern has since resigned from EY in June 2023 as an intern, while the manager she accused of sexual harassment no longer works at the consulting firm.
Sexual harassment at EY
The case at EY reflects the "distressing" cases of bullying and sexual harassment experienced by the consulting firm's employees, as per Broderick's workplace culture review, also released in 2023.
The report found that 10% of employees experienced sexual harassment in the last five years, with women more likely to experience it than men.
David Larocca, EY regional managing partner and CEO Oceania, said the findings were "distressing and completely unacceptable."
"Bullying, sexual harassment, and racism have no place at EY Oceania and I apologise to anyone who has suffered as a result," Larocca said.
The review comes after the death of Aishwarya Venkat in the firm's Sydney office in September 2022, which EY said was the "catalyst" for the company to understand employees' workplace experiences more deeply.
