Michael Brockie: PwC auditor who lost part of skull after falling during work night out sues firm for $234K
READING, ENGLAND: Michael Brockie (28), a PricewaterhouseCoopers auditor, filed a £200,000 (~$234,732) lawsuit against the firm after sustaining a severe head injury during an ''excessive'' pub golf drinking game on a work night out in April 2019 and ending up in a coma. Doctors had to remove part of his skull and he had to take six months off work to recover, despite the fact that he still has ''persistent cognitive symptoms.''
The auditor's lawyers argued that PwC should be found culpable for the negligence of Simon Fradgley, the manager in the Reading office audit department, who organized the event. Fradgley is accused of "failing to take reasonable care for the safety of coworkers and pressuring people to attend the event, which required staff to visit nine bars and pubs in the town."
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According to court documents, those who attended were told to down pints in as few mouthfuls as possible, with the lowest scores winning, and it ''encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol'', Financial Times reported. Brockie, who was working as a senior associate for the firm at the time and earned an average of £41,000 (~$48,104) per year, was discovered lying in the street after falling down.
It would take him months to recover from a "moderate-severe brain injury" before returning to work part-time in October 2019. According to court documents, PwC canceled the annual event following the incident. Brockie returned to work for the company after his recovery, and according to his LinkedIn page, he was promoted to a manager position at the Reading office in January this year, a job that pays an average of £64,000 (~$75,004) per year.
Although he has no recollection of the night's events, he claims in court documents that a similar event the year before established a "competitive virtue of excessive, rapid, and prolonged alcohol consumption." He added that Fradgley's invitation to the event stated that only a "certified and countersigned letter from an accredited medical practitioner" would suffice as an excuse not to attend the night out.
In a statement amidst the legal proceedings, PwC said, "We are unable to comment on the specifics of 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. We also expect anyone attending social events to be responsible and to ensure their own safety and that of others."