EY partner resigns after ‘obscene’ behaviour on ski trip

A PARTNER at EY who told a junior colleague that he would be “bashing [her] from behind” on a company ski trip has resigned just days after a disciplinary hearing ruled that he behaved in an “obscene and aggressive” manner.

Neil Hutt, 51, who also said “I’m going to f--- you” to the trainee during the 2019 jaunt, quit with immediate effect yesterday nearly three years after the incident took place.

EY had let Mr Hutt keep his job after he told an internal investigation that he had “taken a joke too far”. He was fined £75,000 and agreed to attend diversity training. Earlier this week, a disciplinary panel of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales was strongly critical of his actions but Mr Hutt escaped being struck off as a char- tered accountant because the body ruled that there was no risk that he would repeat the offending behaviour.

The female trainee was “shocked and disappointed” by Mr Hutt’s comments, the panel was told.

The panel was told that during lunch on one of the days of the trip, the trainee was having a conversation with a colleague during which Mr Hutt interrupted and said: “What are you doing this afternoon? Because I’m going to f--you. And then I’m going to f--- [another colleague].”

The woman also discussed another conversation in which she said she had been “bashed” into by a snowboarder. Mr Hutt said “that’s funny, because I’ll be bashing you from behind this afternoon”, the panel was told.

The tribunal ruled that “the public interest could be protected by severely reprimanding Mr Hutt and imposing a financial penalty”. He was fined £7,000 and ordered to pay costs of almost £5,000.

Mr Hutt qualified as an accountant in 1992 and became a partner at EY in 2005. EY’S UK partners were paid a record average of £749,000 this year.

A spokesman for EY said: “We can confirm that Neil Hutt has offered his resignation from EY UK, which has been accepted and takes place with immediate effect.”