A former principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers repeatedly had credit taken for her work, endured “abusive and disrespectful” conduct and was pushed out of her role one day before her five-year work anniversary — when she would have become eligible for certain job protections and vesting of her 401(k) account — according to a lawsuit filed July 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Owens v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC).
The plaintiff, a 55-year-old Asian American woman, joined PwC in 2019 to build out a digital transformation related to payments. Under the supervision of one supervisor, a White male, she said she had leads she had generated taken away and was kept from pursuing new business opportunities. Additionally, a White male partner allegedly stole credit for revenue she generated and blocked a promotion, according to the complaint.
The principal also worked with another male partner who threatened and berated her, refused to allow her to speak on conference calls, yelled at her in front of directors and sent derogatory emails about her, she alleged — treatment she said she never saw men similarly subjected to. She filed complaints with PwC about his behavior along with another female director but was punished instead, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff exceeded revenue goals despite having credit and clients taken from her, according to the lawsuit, but was let go at the end of a five-year “conditional offer” period before becoming a full principal, she alleged.
Specifically, she said she was let go one day before her five-year anniversary “in order to deprive her of certain protections afforded partners and principals to which she would have been entitled” and to deny “vesting in various wealth building assets, including 40% of her 401(k) account matching funds.”
The worker further alleged she was underpaid in comparison to her White, male counterparts.
She alleged violations of Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, New York state law, New York City law and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. She plans to amend her complaint to include violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act upon receiving a notice of right to sue from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit requests relief in the form of compensatory, liquidated and punitive damages, equitable and injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
PwC denied the allegations in a statement provided to HR Dive.
“PwC treated Ms. Owens fairly, and her claims otherwise are baseless,” a PwC spokesperson said. “PwC admitted her to the partnership and provided her with extensive resources to support her. The decision to withdraw her from the partnership was based on legitimate business considerations and determined in accordance with PwC’s partnership agreement to which she agreed when she was admitted — which also requires she pursue her claims before a neutral arbitrator. PwC will have these meritless claims moved to arbitration, and then will defeat them.”
Correction: This story’s headline previously misidentified the type of benefit that would vest upon the employee's fifth year at PwC. The complaint states that various wealth-building assets, including 401(k) account matching funds, would vest at that time. A previous version of this story also misidentified the statutes under which the lawsuit has been filed and where Title VII and ADEA violations would be filed. The story has been updated.
