{"id":377079,"date":"2026-04-01T21:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T21:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377079\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T21:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T21:07:09","slug":"senior-deloitte-partner-says-he-was-completely-misquoted-on-remark-to-woman-subordinate-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377079\/","title":{"rendered":"Senior Deloitte partner says he was \u2018completely misquoted\u2019 on remark to woman subordinate \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior partner at Deloitte<\/a> has strongly denied allegations about \u201ctoxic masculinity\u201d in its work culture \u2013 and says he has been \u201ccompletely and utterly misquoted\u201d on a remark to a woman subordinate who claims she was forced out of the firm. <\/p>\n

Brian Jackson, Deloitte\u2019s head of audit in the financial services sector, has been giving evidence to the Workplace Relations Commission<\/a> (WRC) in a constructive dismissal complaint by Viviana Jakomin, who quit her job of four years in late 2023.<\/p>\n

Jakomin said she was left \u201csick, anxious and desperate\u201d at the end of four years at the company. Her lawyers say she was subject to \u201cgaslighting\u201d about advancement in the firm to the point she suffered \u201can injury to her mental health\u201d. <\/p>\n

Jackson said in evidence this week that Jakomin joined the firm as a temporary personal assistant at a point when he was investigating how to cut down on admin work on audits for its client-facing staff. <\/p>\n

His \u201cvision\u201d was to build a team of project management staff who would give support to professional teams working on big audits, he said. <\/p>\n

He knew Jakomin was experienced in project management, the tribunal heard. He said he got approval to create a role for her as \u201cfinancial services audit project co-ordinator\u201d when her temp contract expired. <\/p>\n

Her core tasks were \u201cadministrative in nature\u201d, he said. \u201cIt\u2019s assisting, monitoring and stuff like that. Clearly, they\u2019re open enough \u2013 people can stretch beyond that if they\u2019re performing well,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He said in discussions with Jakomin, he said it would mean \u201can opportunity for future promotion opportunities\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWas there a promise made that she would be appointed into a management group level role as project manager?\u201d Harry Wall of business group Ibec<\/a>, for the employer, asked him. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt no point whatsoever was there any promise to Viviana that she would be promoted into the management group. That was not even a discussion,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

His intention was to see how the project played out over a full year of annual audit cycles \u2013 in particular the big audit season in March 2020. He said he was surprised when Jakomin expressed interest in another job elsewhere in the firm in December 2019. \u201cI felt we were on this year one, let\u2019s make an impact, make this a success,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The fact she was \u201clooking elsewhere\u201d suggested \u201csome level of dissatisfaction\u201d, he said. \u201cI did not understand that Viviana had a significant concern that she was not part of the management group,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

This did not become an issue until February 2020, when Jakomin approached him outside a set of glass booths adjoining the open office where they worked, Jackson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment she went in [to a booth], she just shouted at me, and she wouldn\u2019t let me speak at all,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cPromote me. Promote me now,\u201d he quoted Jakomin as saying. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to find my way in: \u2018Viviana, we need to talk about this,\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Promote me now. Promote me now. Promote me now,\u201d came the response, Jackson said. <\/p>\n

He replied: \u201cEven if I wanted to, I couldn\u2019t promote you now,\u201d and added that he was \u201chappy to support her\u201d to go for more senior posts, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cViviana kept shouting over me: \u2018No, no, no, no, promote me now,\u2019\u201d the partner said. \u201cShe was rude, she was emotional, and actually it was a really, really unpleasant conversation. Every single thing I tried to say got shouted over … I couldn\u2019t get a word in,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Jackson said he had been \u201ccompletely and utterly misquoted in so many places about what he said next\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018Viviana, if you are unwilling to listen to a single word I am going to say, you will never be promoted,\u2019\u201d Jackson told the tribunal. He then left, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe quote against me is: \u2018If you come up against me, you will never be promoted,\u2019\u201d Jackson added. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis meeting was a really, really unpleasant meeting, and after this meeting there was never anything other than pleasant, kind, constructive interaction between Viviana and myself,\u201d he said. \u201c[It was] the only meeting in a five-year history that was anything other than positive, constructive and kind,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Cross-examining Jackson on Wednesday, counsel for the complainant Eoin Morris, appearing instructed by Crushell & Co Solicitors, said Deloitte was \u201ctelling Viviana one thing, creating a reality for her that is completely different from reality as you know it to be\u201d. <\/p>\n

That reality was that there was \u201cno intention of supporting her for management\u201d, Morris said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was 100 per cent supportive of Viviana, so motivated to create the opportunity to be promoted. To suggest there was any gaslighting there is completely wrong,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

Jackson had been asked to engage with a formal workplace grievance process on foot of a complaint by Jakomin at one stage, the tribunal heard. <\/p>\n

The witness said earlier testimony to the WRC using \u201cterms like \u2018bullying\u2019\u201d to describe the workplace environment were \u201ccompletely untrue\u201d. <\/p>\n

Jakomin concluded her evidence to the tribunal earlier this week, having spoken about the February 2020 meeting at an earlier point in the proceedings. Her barrister is to cross-examine Jackson on his evidence when the matter resumes later this year.<\/p>\n

The tribunal heard on Tuesday that Jakomin later pursued a workplace grievance and received an outcome, but resigned while out sick before an appeal process was concluded. <\/p>\n

Her case is that she was being pressured to return to an \u201cunsafe workplace\u201d when she was contacted by human resources about returning from sick leave. <\/p>\n

An occupational health assessment in the third quarter of 2023 determined that Jakomin\u2019s mental health was \u201csomewhat strained\u201d but that she was fit to go back to work if her concerns could be addressed. <\/p>\n

Jakomin took issue with that assessment, and said that when she spoke to the assessor from Medmark, she was \u201cdistressed\u201d and \u201cconstantly crying over the phone\u201d. <\/p>\n

Adjudicator Penelope McGrath noted that the sick notes provided by Jakomin\u2019s doctor did not refer to workplace stress, but Morris said they used \u201cboilerplate\u201d language referring to a medical issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was sick at this stage, sick, anxious and desperate, begging Deloitte … in terms of safety, security in the workplace, there was never an assurance,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were really good in writing … but the reality is completely different,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe bubble had to burst at some stage,\u201d Morris submitted. <\/p>\n

The case has now been adjourned pending the scheduling of four more hearing days in September, when Jackson\u2019s cross-examination will continue. <\/p>\n

Harry Wall of Ibec, for the employer, said he had five more company witnesses to call. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A senior partner at Deloitte has strongly denied allegations about \u201ctoxic masculinity\u201d in its work culture \u2013 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[8924,4105,61,60,112,6465],"class_list":{"0":"post-377079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-deloitte","9":"tag-ibec","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-workplace-relations-commission"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}