Ernst and Young review by Elizabeth Broderick boycotted by staff

A company-wide probe into the suicide of a young worker at accountancy giant Ernst and Young in Sydney has been boycotted by some worried workers. 

Audit and assurance specialist Aishwarya Venkatachalam, 27, died around 12.20am on August 27 when she plunged from the 11th floor terrace of her firm’s George St tower block in the CBD.

The Indian national – who moved to Australia 10 months earlier – complained to friends that her co-workers were ‘mean and racist’.

 Daily Mail Australia’s reporting on the story prompted the investigation into bullying, racism and work culture at the financial giant by Elizabeth Broderick, the high-profile Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner for over eight years. 

Oceanic EY CEO David Larocca vowed Ms Broderick would look at the firm’s culture, work practices and psychological health and safety in an ‘independent and rigorous’ review. 

But the review has been hampered by a lack of staff involvement, with EY insiders revealing some fear their careers could suffer if they give honest responses to their experience of life in the notoriously competitive, high-pressure workplace.

An apparently anonymous survey asking for staff insights into the allegedly toxic culture was sent out to staff as part of the review.

However the emails contained a specific URL for them to click on which was unique to each worker, meaning all answers could be traced back to individual employees.

The review was announced in September and is due to report back next month – but researchers were still begging staff to fill in the survey in a recent email which  extended the deadline to last Friday.

A company spokesman this week insisted to Accountants Daily the review had ‘a lot of … really high engagement from our staff’.

But an email sent out to workers by Elizabeth Broderick and Co, announcing the deadline extension to May 5 and seen by Daily Mail Australia, admitted: ‘We have not had as many responses as we would like.

‘We really need to hear from more of you to ensure the survey truly reflects the views of all staff.’ 

Insiders at EY claim the company has not brought in any changes in the nine months since Ms Venkatachalam’s tragic death.

‘There’s been no changes and no updates,’ said one staff member. 

‘They had to extend the survey period due to lack of interest because a unique url was sent to everyone making you identifiable to EY.

‘There’s also been no mention of the two other culture reviews which were supposed to be underway. 

‘No update on the Aishwarya event, no SafeWork NSW results, no coroner report, no police report. 

‘Zero updates on what happened that night and how we responded as an organisation.’

The insider revealed all staff had been told was that it was ‘inappropriate to comment during the investigation’ and that the company was ‘respecting the family’s privacy’.

But female staff are also said to be concerned by the lack of security at the building which was exposed by the tragedy.

Ms Venkatachalam was said to have been at a drinks function earlier in the evening before she returned to the building and managed to access the terrace cafe where she fell to her death.

‘Staff, particularly female staff, are concerned at the gaping safety holes in working at EY if they can’t track who goes in and out of the building at night,’ added the insider.

EY spokesman Melanie Kent this week admitted to Accountants Daily: ‘It’s a really, really difficult and awkward time for everyone.

‘We are working to make sure that we get really good results, really good outcomes.

‘We are working really hard to address all of the issues that have been raised and to make sure that we come out with something that’s going to look after our people.’

Ms Broderick is a UN special rapporteur for discrimination against women and girls and launched the Champions of Change Coalition.

Her specialist consultancy company says it focuses on ‘gender equality, diversity, inclusion and cultural renewal, particularly in male dominated environments’.

Her review into the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force during her eight years as sex discrimination commissioner led to sweeping cultural reforms.

The company also launched two additional internal reviews in the wake of the tragedy to tackle mental health and safety support within the organisation.

An EY spokesman told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: ‘We will always take the safety and wellbeing of our people as the utmost priority.

‘We take the review extremely seriously. We will not be commenting on the review during the process based on advice from independent expert Elizabeth Broderick.

‘We are committed to releasing the findings and implementing the recommendations.’

Ms Venkatachalam – who used the abbreviated Venkat form of her name professionally – died after she was at a work drinks function at Sydney’s The Ivy nightclub on August 26.

Good Samaritans told Daily Mail Australia how, moments before Ms Venkatachalam’s death, they found her distraught in a nearby car park, sobbing about being bullied.

A group of women returning to their car found her sobbing uncontrollably in a city centre car park where she told them ‘everyone was so mean to her in her office and that white people are not nice and are mean people and racist’. 

It echoed similar comments she had earlier made to her friend Neeti Bisht in April that ‘mean colleagues’ had been making her new life in Sydney a misery.

She told the three women she met in the car park that her house key was in her office but she couldn’t get into the building to collect it and had nowhere else to go.

Her newlywed husband Nakul Murali, whom she married in a spectacular three-day Tamil-Brahman ceremony in January 2021, was on a flight home from Singapore to Sydney at the time of her death.

Other bystanders helped her back to her office around midnight, but 20 minutes later she plunged to her death onto the awning above the building’s front entrance.

Ms Venkatachalam’s death sparked further accusations of racism within the company and allegations of a toxic workplace culture. 

There is no suggestion EY or Ms Venkatachalam’s co-workers or her superiors were in any way responsible for her death. 

Staff at the firm were infuriated by the company’s initial response which didn’t even name Ms Venkatachalam in a speech from CEO David Larocca addressing the company’s 9,000 Sydney workers.

Company bosses finally relented after Daily Mail Australia revealed how furious workers were pursuing the CEO on LinkedIn, telling him to ‘Say her name.’ 

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