Peter Lacy, the former head of sustainability at Accenture, has brought claims of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal against the multinational consulting firm. He contends that the firm’s chair and CEO, Julie Sweet, publicly humiliated him due to his neurological disability prior to his job termination. The court documents presented at a London employment tribunal reveal that Mr Lacy, a member of Accenture’s global management team, was often “belittled” and “shamed”, actions that allegedly became more frequent leading up to his redundancy.
The lawsuit underlines the growing burden faced by large corporations in accommodating the increasing number of neurodiverse adults diagnosed. Mr Lacy, previously one of Accenture’s top executives worldwide, claims discrimination over his neurological issue – primarily ADHD, further complicated by PTSD and depression. Alongside this, he also alleges unfair dismissal after his role was terminated as part of the company’s global downsizing strategy implemented last year, aiming to eliminate roughly 19,000 jobs.
The suit details specific occasions where Mr Lacy was reportedly humiliated by high-ranking officials, notably Ms Sweet. She is said to have excluded him from meetings and publicly berated him. Two incidents in 2022 are highlighted, one where Ms Sweet is said to have cut off Mr Lacy rudely before around 1,000 Accenture staff and another one where she allegedly interrupted him in front of the global management committee.
While Accenture and Ms Sweet reject these allegations, court documents indicate that Mr Lacy’s disability was discernible to his coworkers, including senior leaders. However, Accenture maintains that Mr Lacy’s condition was not apparent.
Mr. Lacy has reported an incident from February 2023 where a virtual conversation with Accenture’s Chief Strategy Officer, Bhaskar Ghosh, and Ms. Sweet involved a 15-minute unsolicited and baseless critique from Ms. Sweet on his work. Mr. Lacy’s claim emphasized that such incidents aggravated his ADHD symptoms, leading up to his unfair dismissal by Accenture.
In response, Ms. Sweet firmly denied any instance of public humiliation of Mr. Lacy. She said that she only respectfully asked Mr. Lacy to end his presentation at a global management committee meeting in May 2022. Regarding the February 2023 meeting, Ms. Sweet explained that Mr. Lacy was not able to respond to a straightforward question, further stating that she was composed and courteous, despite expressing her feedback forthrightly.
This allegation adds to Ms. Sweet’s troubles as just last month, she notified that the company had to downsize its annual revenue projections due to an unstable macroeconomic situation. The firm’s response to Mr. Lacy’s attempt to dismiss Accenture’s defence of unjust dismissal was denied during a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
The claim will be addressed in a trial at an employment tribunal in London on March 31, 2025. Accenture’s spokesperson stated, “We are gratified that the tribunal concurs with Accenture for the case to proceed to a full trial. Our court documents and today’s tribunal proceedings sufficiently detail our standpoint. No further comment will be provided at this stage.” © The Financial Times Limited 2024.