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One of KPMG's most important partners at the center of a bullying dispute left his post and was absent from Big Four accounting firm after new allegations about his conduct were unveiled last week .
KPMG said Monday in a letter to all British staff that Sanjay Thakkar, head of the company's consulting unit, one of its most profitable divisions, had decided to withdraw from his role this week "in the wider interest of society".
Last week, the Financial Times revealed that two of KPMG's most prominent female partners had resigned from the company to protest the handling of an investigation into Thakkar's alleged bullying.
Maggie Brereton, who was in charge of transaction services in the UK, and Ina Kjaer, formerly head of UK integration in the advisory team of the operation, resigned in February. Both men had 40 years of experience at KPMG and were highly respected as two of his most talented partners.
KPMG said in its email that new allegations about Thakkar's conduct had been made to his management team last week after the release of details about the departure of female partners. The company is currently investigating these new allegations.
Bill Michael, KPMG's UK president, said in his email that he had "heard enough about it in recent days to know that all of our people are not convinced they can speak out when they have concerns. Adding, "This is unacceptable".
"It is clear that we must do more," he said.
Complaints about Thakkar's alleged behavior and KPMG's response to it – Mr. Thakkar agreed to apologize to a group of individuals in January and to attend leadership training – put in place light the tension that exists between the desire of a company to retain its senior employees and the obligation to act staff concerns.
Several current and former KPMG employees told the FT that they felt that the formal and informal complaints about Mr. Thakkar were not being taken seriously or handled appropriately. Many fear that the 50 year old player will be protected because he has generated significant income.
A former employee said, "There is still a series of questions about why he was allowed to continue this type of behavior for so long."
Former employees said Thakkar was verbally aggressive at meetings, undermining colleagues and sometimes insulting them. One of them said the staff had described this behavior as "being Sanjayed". Mr. Thakkar declined to comment.
KPMG announced that Melanie Richards, vice-president of the firm, will become interim chief of operations, in addition to her current role, pending the appointment of new executives.
In a statement, he said, "We can confirm that KPMG has opened an investigation into new allegations against Sanjay Thakkar, which were reported to the company's leaders last week. Given that this investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for us to start more. "
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