PwC sued by worker over 'pub golf' head injury

Image source, Getty Images

PwC is being sued by an employee who claims a work party involving the drinking game called "pub golf" left him with a serious head injury.

Michael Brockie claimed the accountancy giant owed him a "duty of care" when he attended the event in early 2019, the Financial Times reported.

PwC declined to comment on the claim but told the 大象传媒 it had a "safe, healthy and inclusive culture".

It added it expected anyone attending events to "ensure their own safety".

The legal action comes after some big City firms have attempted to curb a culture of excessive drinking by staff, in recent years, with Lloyd's of London warning workers to behave at work social events.

In the court papers seen by the Financial Times, Mr Brockie's personal injury claim reportedly outlined the details of the "pub golf" event, which allegedly involved a bar crawl of nine venues, with each one representing a golf course hole.

Staff were supposedly encouraged to drink alcoholic drinks at each venue as quickly as possible to get the best score and win the game.

Mr Brockie claimed the event "encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol" and that he had "moderate-severe brain injury" after becoming "so intoxicated" during the event that he had no recollection of what happened after 22:00, the FT reported.

The 28-year-old claimed he had to to take six months off work to recover.

He wants provisional damages of more than 拢200,000, claiming that PwC is "indirectly" responsible for alleged negligence, and that that it "failed to take reasonable care" of workers.

PwC said in a statement that it was unable to comment "on the specifics of a matter" due to ongoing legal proceedings.

"As a responsible employer we are committed to providing a safe, healthy and inclusive culture for all of our people," the company said.

"We also expect anyone attending social events to be responsible and to ensure their own safety and that of others."