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Accounting giant PwC’s boozy U.K. event ends with coma and lawsuit

Accounting giant PwC’s boozy U.K. event ends with coma and lawsuit

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An auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers in England is suing the company over severe injuries he sustained at a work event that “made a competitive virtue” of “excessive” drinking, the lawsuit alleges.

In April 2019, Michael Brockie participated in a PwC “pub golf” event, in which attendees were supposed to visit nine bars, each representing a hole, according to the Financial Times, which first reported on the case. Employees were supposed to finish their drinks in as few sips as possible to get the lowest score.

Brockie says he became drunk enough to black out and lose his memory of the night after 10 p.m.; he was later found lying in the street with a severe head injury. Brockie was in a coma for several weeks and had part of his skull removed as a result of his injuries. He returned to work after six months, but he still suffers “persistent cognitive symptoms” and is at risk of developing epilepsy, according to the Financial Times.

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“Doctors and the police came to the conclusion that I fell over and didn’t use my hands to break the fall so I ended up hitting my head on the floor,” Brockie told ITV after the incident. “The next thing I remember was four weeks later.”

A spokesperson for PwC said that the company could not comment “on a matter that is subject to ongoing legal proceedings.”

“As a responsible employer we are committed to providing a safe, healthy and inclusive culture for all of our people,” PwC said in a statement to The Washington Post. “We also expect anyone attending social events to be responsible and to ensure their own safety and that of others.”

The case, filed in London’s High Court, is among the latest to highlight the entrenchment of drinking in the United Kingdom’s white-collar professional culture. In March, insurance market Lloyd’s of London fined member firm Atrium Underwriters a record 1 million pounds for “serious failures,” including a “boys’ night out” where employees, including two senior executives, “took part in inappropriate initiation games and heavy drinking, and made sexual comments about female colleagues,” the Guardian reported.

In 2021, a partner at Ernst & Young resigned after he was fined thousands of pounds for sexually harassing a female colleague during a firm ski trip on which employees had been drinking. And in the wake of #MeToo, some firms introduced “booze chaperones” or “sober supervisors” at company events in hopes of cutting down on misconduct and creating cultures where alcohol is not a focal point.

Peter Bamberger, vice president at the Academy of Management and a professor at Tel Aviv University and Cornell University’s Smithers Institute, has studied the use of alcohol in and around the workplace for decades.

People perceive alcohol as being a social lubricant, Bamberger said, which motivates them to drink in hopes of interacting more comfortably with co-workers — regardless of whether alcohol actually makes things better. And in some industries, drinking is baked into the culture of dealmaking.

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“In a lot of professional workplace interactions, drinking is a way of establishing a trusting relationship,” Bamberger said. With salespeople, for example, “very often the sales process begins with episodes of drinking where everybody puts themselves at risk.”

Employees were under “heavy pressure” to attend the PwC pub golf event, a celebration for the end of “busy season” that was organized by Brockie’s manager at the company’s Reading office, according to reporting from the Guardian.

“I expect absolute attendance from all of those who attended last year’s invitational,” the emailed invitation read, according to the Guardian. “Nothing short of a certified and countersigned letter by an accredited medical practitioner will suffice as excuse.”

The manager “failed to take reasonable care for the safety of co-workers” at the event, the suit alleges, noting that another PwC employee suffered a serious injury in 2016. The company ended the event, which had been going on for several years, after Brockie’s injury in 2019, the Guardian reported

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Brockie is seeking damages of 200,000 pounds (about $235,000) as well as an order that would entitle him to more payments in the future, according to the Financial Times.

Boyes Turner LLP, the legal firm representing Brockie, did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

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Public Service Announcement: Town of Lincoln ends Keep It Clear Event on February 18

Public Service Announcement: Town of Lincoln ends Keep It Clear Event on February 18

 

The Town of Lincoln is declaring the current Keep it Clear event ended as of 4 p.m. on Friday, February 18, 2022.

Keep It Clear was declared on February 17 in response to a system that forecasted mixed precipitation including snow accumulations of 10 to 20 cm, icy and slippery conditions and local blowing snow.

While on-street parking is once again permitted, we ask everyone to be considerate when parking on Town streets and allow enough space for cars to pass through. Please be mindful of snowbanks and narrow sections on many secondary roads.

Children are reminded to not play on roads or on snowbanks close to roads, and to not build snow forts or tunnels close to roads, as drivers are unable to see them.

We all have a responsibility to help keep our roads safe for residents and travelers.

– 30 – 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Liliana Busnello
Manager of Corporate Communications
Town of Lincoln
Direct: 905-563-2799 ext. 230
Tel: 905-563-8205

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Road Snow Clearing Related Questions

I just cleared my driveway, and the plow went by and filled it back in with heavy snow. Will you come back and clear it out?

  • Crews cannot come back to your driveway to clear it out as they are working to clear the entire Town. What happens, is the “wing” blade on the plow will push the snow into open areas when the plows pass. Unfortunately, if you have cleared your driveway, this has created the perfect open space for this.
  • Some tips for preventing this from happening in the future would be to wait to clear the snow at the end of your driveway until you know the plow has come by. We also recommend that you clear the snow to the right as you go down the driveway so that it is not pushed back in during future passes.

Does the Town use salt on the road?

  • The Town primarily uses a blend of sand and salt on our roads.
  • The Town is also piloting a brine solution for anti-icing on several primary roads in Town.

Why doesn’t the plow do a better job clearing the snow from my cul-de-sac?

  • It is challenging for a large snowplow truck operator to maneuver in a cul-de-sac to clear all of the snow from around its centre island area.
  • The Town first clears a path around the cul-de-sac with a snowplow to allow access to residents and EMS/Fire services. Later, as part of our clean-up operations, the Town comes back with equipment (backhoes & loaders) to complete a total clearing of the cul-de-sac area, typically piling the excess snow in the middle for storage purposes.
  • After a significant amount of snow accumulates within these areas, a front-end loader or backhoe loader and dump trucks remove the excess snow. This is scheduled based on necessity.

Why does it take so long to get to my cul-de-sac?

  • Cul-de-sacs are initially plowed as part of the Town’s secondary road operations, and then the Town returns later to complete a full clean-up of the cul-de-sac area.

When is the plow getting to my street?

  • The Town of Lincoln’s road network is vast geographically, making it challenging for winter operations. For example, weather conditions below the escarpment can differ considerably from those above the escarpment.
  • During an active snow event, it can take many hours to attend to all of the roads in Lincoln, so we ask for your patience and understanding – especially with high winds and accumulation.
  • Please know that we are out there, maintaining the roads as best as we can.
  • The Town crews start to plow primary roads first. Once these roads have been plowed, the drivers will move to secondary roads.

The snowplow driver hit and knocked over my mailbox. What should I do?

  • We are sorry to hear this has happened, and apologize for the inconvenience. Please know that we will replace your mailbox. If this happens, please notify the Town of Lincoln immediately. A temporary mailbox will be provided if staff cannot replace it right away – for instance, during a snowstorm, or if a completely new post needs to be installed. A permanent replacement will be scheduled in early spring.
  • Please note: unfortunately, the Town does not replace custom mailboxes with the same but will replace the damaged one with a new metal rural-type mailbox.

We had a massive storm, and there is still snow on the roads. Why are there no trucks out?

  • When a large storm hits, we have all trucks and licensed/trained drivers out on routes clearing snow. After a certain amount of hours, we need to send the crews home to get some much-needed and well-deserved sleep. The crews will be back out early the following morning to continue clearing the roads.
  • The snow is melting, and there are large puddles of water on the road. When is the Town going to deal with this?
  • If large puddles form from the snow melting, the catch basin may be blocked. We will do our best to come around and clean blocked catch basins, but we always appreciate a helping hand when residents assist with clearing debris from the catch basins.

 

Sidewalk Snow Clearing Related Questions

Does the Town use salt on all sidewalks and trails?

  • The Town uses salt on our sidewalks and sand on the multi-use trails.

Why do you clear some sidewalks but leave the area in front of my house?

  • The Town clears sidewalks in front of particular residences as part of the Senior Sidewalk Snow clearing program. Residents must be over the age of 65 to qualify for this program.
  • As a pilot program, the Town is clearing additional sidewalks along walking routes for schools and near business areas and some areas of sidewalks that are curb faced (i.e. no grassed boulevard), sidewalks adjacent to Regional Roads and Town properties and hard-surfaced trails.
  • On October 25, 2021, Council voted to expand the program to include all municipal-owned sidewalks and hard surface trails starting November 2022, for the 2022-2023 winter season.

The plow went by and filled in a crosswalk. How do I get the Town to come back to clear?

  • Town staff patrol sidewalks, trails, main crosswalks and pedestrian crossing locations that we clear. When the crews have finished their initial crosswalk and pedestrian crossing areas, they will return to areas we are aware of needing clearing. If this area is on our routes, we will come back and clear the area.

 

Parking By-Law Related Questions

Why was the Parking by-law amended?

  • The goal of the by-law amendment related to snow clearing is to help ensure the roads within the Town are cleared safely and promptly. This is done by making all attempts to remove vehicles from the roadways.
  • Although this provision is intended to be enforced, we recognize that this will change the way homeowners plan their days or nights when a pending snowfall event is expected. The Town would like to work cooperatively with residents in adapting to this change.
  • Municipal Law Enforcement, along with Public Works, hopes to make every effort to allow homeowners to correct (within reason) parking infractions related to impeding snow clearing during this first winter season. However, enforcement will occur with continual or habitually offending vehicles.

Where am I supposed to park my car if it does not fit in the driveway?

  • It is understood and acknowledged that there are situations where homeowners have more vehicles than they can accommodate with the parking space available on their property. The Town reviews opportunities for enhanced parking provision through projects such as the visioning and master planning exercises for main corridors such as Ontario Street in Beamsville and the Victoria and King corridors in Vineland. However, each property has allocated vehicle parking (where possible) on a driveway, garage or laneway by the zoning By-law.
  • We suggest speaking with a neighbour and determining if you can use space in their driveway during a heavy snowfall; if you have a garage, consider clearing it out to use it. We recognize that this isn’t always convenient, but we ask everyone to pay it forward and not park vehicles on the road. Any vehicles over what was allocated by the zoning By-law is then the responsibility of the individual vehicle/ homeowner to locate and utilize permissible parking.

How do I know when I can park on the road?

  • Notification of a pending snowfall event, as has been the practice for the previous years, will be provided on Town of Lincoln website and Town social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Additionally, local news and weather stations and news outlets provide regular updates on weather conditions for all members of various communities.
  • Generally, if the forecast indicates an accumulation of 7-10 cm or more, it is likely that the Town will announce that a “Keep it Clear” is in effect, and parking will not be allowed on any Town Roads.

How long will this be in effect and can I not park on the street?

  • The parking provision related to snow clearing is in effect when a Keep it Clear event is predicted via weather conditions and remains in effect for 72 hours, or when the Town announces that the event is over.

Does this apply to all streets?

  • Yes, the parking provision applies to all municipal streets with the Town.

How can I challenge a ticket?

  • The process to challenge an issued parking offence notice can be reviewed either on the rear portion of the offence notice or by visiting the Town of Lincoln website under municipal law enforcement/ parking ticket payment.

What happens if I leave my car on the road/what is the fine?

  • The set fine for this provision, per offence, is $75.00. Additionally, habitual or continued breaches in the provision may result in a vehicle being removed at the owner’s expense. The Town hopes to continue to work with all community members to engage and educate regarding this provision in order to avoid the tow authorities being utilized.