Ernst & Young Dismisses Dozens Of US Employees Over Training 'Cheating' Allegations

The dismissals, which occurred last week, stem from an internal investigation into the firm's "EY Ignite Learning Week" held in May

Ernst & Young (EY) has terminated dozens of employees in the US following allegations of misconduct during mandatory professional training sessions. The dismissals, which occurred last week, stem from an internal investigation into the firm's "EY Ignite Learning Week" held in May. During the event, some employees reportedly attended multiple online training sessions simultaneously, which the firm deemed an ethical violation.

The firings have sparked backlash from the affected employees, many of whom claim they were unaware of any wrongdoing. Some argued that EY's promotional materials encouraged them to join as many sessions as possible based on their availability.

"We all work with three monitors. I wanted to gather new ideas to stand out," one dismissed consultant told The Financial Times. Another ex-employee voiced frustration, saying, "EY fosters a culture of multitasking. When you're required to bill 45 hours a week and complete additional internal work, how could this not happen?"

The training sessions in question were part of the 40 continuing professional education (CPE) credits EY employees are required to complete each year. The firm, however, highlighted that attending more than one session at a time violated its ethical guidelines.

In an official statement, EY underscored its commitment to integrity, saying, "Our core values of integrity and ethics are at the forefront of everything we do. Appropriate disciplinary action was 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."

The incident comes amid increased scrutiny by the "Big Four" accounting firms regarding professional training misconduct. EY, in particular, has faced heightened sensitivity following a 2022 incident when the firm was fined $100 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for cheating on certification exams. In that case, hundreds of EY employees shared answers, including on ethics tests, and the firm's leadership concealed the violations from regulators.

The recent dismissals have led to internal controversy, with some employees arguing that the penalties were too severe for the alleged violations. Critics also questioned why the firm's training system allowed employees to log into multiple Zoom sessions at once without issuing warnings or restrictions.

Following the investigation into the May learning week, EY revised its internal training policies. In August, the company issued a warning reminding employees to "complete this learning activity with integrity" and avoid attending multiple sessions simultaneously.