EY fired staff for an ethical breach after they watched multiple online training courses at the same time

EY told B-17 it has taken “appropriate disciplinary action” against some staff.

The accounting and consultancy giant EY has fired dozens of US staff, accusing them of breaching internal ethics codes, the Financial Times reported.

The dismissals took place last week after an investigation found that the staff had watched multiple online training courses simultaneously during “EY Ignite Learning Week” in May, the FT reported.

EY said in a statement shared with B-17 that a number of employees had violated the company’s global code of conduct.

“At EY, our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do. Any violation of our Code of Conduct and/or US Learning Policy will not be tolerated,” it said.

“Appropriate disciplinary action was recently taken in a small number of cases where individuals were found to be in violation of our global Code of Conduct and US Learning Policy.”

By watching the courses, the EY employees scored continuing professional education credits, of which they are required to achieve 40 in a year.

The sessions included “How strong is your digital brand in the marketplace?” and “Conversing with AI, one prompt at a time,” according to the FT.

Several of the fired EY employees told the FT that they did not believe they were violating any internal policies by watching multiple courses at once. They said that there had been no warning that watching courses simultaneously was not allowed and that multitasking was part of EY’s culture.

According to the FT report, the firm has since changed internal guidance for EY Ignite events. An email about a two-day training event in August informed staff that they were “expected to complete this learning activity with integrity, including being present for all content and class interactions.”

The consulting giant has tightened internal procedures since the US Securities and Exchange Commission fined it $100 million for a series of breaches related to staff cheating on exams.

The SEC said hundreds of EY accounting staff shared answers to exam questions “over multiple years.” EY was also accused of withholding evidence from the SEC while the matter was under investigation. The penalty was the largest ever imposed against an audit firm, the SEC said.

Similar reprimands have also been issued to other Big Four firms. Earlier in 2024, US regulator the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined KPMG’s Dutch business $25 million over staff cheating on exams, while Deloitte’s affiliates in Indonesia and the Philippines were also fined for similar breaches.