Trainee accountant was sacked from KPMG after accusing her boss of 'mansplaining' and showing him her bra when he asked her to wear smarter clothes to work, filling up containers with free food and taking a meeting room as her own private office
By Henry Martin For Mailonline12:07 BST 22 Jun 2020 , updated 20:22 BST 22 Jun 2020
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Zhihui Lu, 26, joined KPMG as an audit assistant in 2015 after graduating from Durham with a degree in accounting and finance - but within two years bosses were raising concerns about her performance as well as her erratic behaviour.
On one occasion Miss Lu asked manager Matt Brunton 'who was he as a man to be telling her what she can and cannot wear?' after she turned up at the firm's Canary Wharf office in Londonwearing jeans and a jumper.
In a 'loud and aggressive tirade' she then asked whether he thought her bra was appropriate and tried to show him her bra strap, an East London tribunal was tolerable
The 'completely inappropriate' outburst was just one of a number of incidents of misconduct that led to Miss Lu being fired after just three years at the accounting giant, the panel heard.
After being taken on as a graduate trainee she was accused of being overly aggressive, emotional and rude and was repeatedly warned about her behaviour.
Miss Lu was suspended and eventually sacked in November 2018 for gross misconduct, and she took the firm to tribunal claiming they had discriminated against her.
But the panel sided with KPMG and dismissed her claims for unfair dismissal, harassment, and disability and race discrimination entirely.
Zhihui Lu joined KPMG as an audit assistant in 2015 after graduating from Durham with a degree in accounting and finance - but within two years bosses were raising concerns about her performance as well as her erratic behaviour
The panel heard Miss Lu had ignored requests to stop taking too much food for herself from lunches laid on for staff and on one occasion turned up with containers so she could remove as much as possible.
She also refused to sit on the same floor as the rest of the Insurance team, commandeering a meeting room five floors below in which she installed a rice cooker.
She repeatedly referred to a senior member of the firm as 'the bald partner' despite knowing his name, and told a female colleague she 'looked terrible' at work, the panel was told.
Since leaving the company Miss Lu uploaded a YouTube video parody of PewDiePie's song 'Congratulations'.
In the PewDiePie version, the popular YouTuber sarcastically congratulates rival channel T-Series for taking his spot as the number one content creator on the site.
In Ms Lu's parody, she congratulates KPMG in a similarly sarcastic manner and accuses the company of starting by selling 'dirt cheap services' and having 'a billion Caucasians' - with the original song playing in the background.
She posted the lyrics to her parody in the description of her video.
They read: 'Ayy congratulations, to your corporation, guess to beat one SG gal you need a billion Caucasians. Yeah, you did it very nice, and all it took was a massive corporate entity with every law firm in the big smoke.'
One verse's lyrics are written: 'KPMD can eat a stickytofu! (Still not defamation) Suck my ducking SG noodles! (Still not defamation) Did you know that KPMDians don't even have poo-poo in their brains? That's a blatant racist lie. Yeah, but still not defamation!'
By Henry Martin For Mailonline12:07 BST 22 Jun 2020 , updated 20:22 BST 22 Jun 2020
+6
- 3kshares
- Zhihui Lu was sacked from KPMG after just three years at the accounting giant
- A tribunal heard she accused her boss of 'mansplaining' over a dress code row
- She was suspended and then sacked in November 2018 for gross misconduct
- Miss Lu took them to tribunal claiming the firm had discriminated against her
- But the panel sided with KPMG and dismissed her claims for unfair dismissal
Zhihui Lu, 26, joined KPMG as an audit assistant in 2015 after graduating from Durham with a degree in accounting and finance - but within two years bosses were raising concerns about her performance as well as her erratic behaviour.
On one occasion Miss Lu asked manager Matt Brunton 'who was he as a man to be telling her what she can and cannot wear?' after she turned up at the firm's Canary Wharf office in Londonwearing jeans and a jumper.
In a 'loud and aggressive tirade' she then asked whether he thought her bra was appropriate and tried to show him her bra strap, an East London tribunal was tolerable
The 'completely inappropriate' outburst was just one of a number of incidents of misconduct that led to Miss Lu being fired after just three years at the accounting giant, the panel heard.
After being taken on as a graduate trainee she was accused of being overly aggressive, emotional and rude and was repeatedly warned about her behaviour.
Miss Lu was suspended and eventually sacked in November 2018 for gross misconduct, and she took the firm to tribunal claiming they had discriminated against her.
But the panel sided with KPMG and dismissed her claims for unfair dismissal, harassment, and disability and race discrimination entirely.
Zhihui Lu joined KPMG as an audit assistant in 2015 after graduating from Durham with a degree in accounting and finance - but within two years bosses were raising concerns about her performance as well as her erratic behaviour
The panel heard Miss Lu had ignored requests to stop taking too much food for herself from lunches laid on for staff and on one occasion turned up with containers so she could remove as much as possible.
She also refused to sit on the same floor as the rest of the Insurance team, commandeering a meeting room five floors below in which she installed a rice cooker.
She repeatedly referred to a senior member of the firm as 'the bald partner' despite knowing his name, and told a female colleague she 'looked terrible' at work, the panel was told.
Since leaving the company Miss Lu uploaded a YouTube video parody of PewDiePie's song 'Congratulations'.
In the PewDiePie version, the popular YouTuber sarcastically congratulates rival channel T-Series for taking his spot as the number one content creator on the site.
In Ms Lu's parody, she congratulates KPMG in a similarly sarcastic manner and accuses the company of starting by selling 'dirt cheap services' and having 'a billion Caucasians' - with the original song playing in the background.
She posted the lyrics to her parody in the description of her video.
They read: 'Ayy congratulations, to your corporation, guess to beat one SG gal you need a billion Caucasians. Yeah, you did it very nice, and all it took was a massive corporate entity with every law firm in the big smoke.'
One verse's lyrics are written: 'KPMD can eat a stickytofu! (Still not defamation) Suck my ducking SG noodles! (Still not defamation) Did you know that KPMDians don't even have poo-poo in their brains? That's a blatant racist lie. Yeah, but still not defamation!'
