Woman found dead in Ernst & Young’s Sydney office after social event

The woman had spent her Friday afternoon at a popular club in Sydney for a social event

A 33-year-old female Ernst & Young employee was found dead just hours after attending an event organised by the company in Australia.

The employee’s body was discovered by her colleagues at the accounting firm’s George Street office in Sydney at around midnight on Friday.

The woman, who has not been named yet, had spent her Friday afternoon at a popular club in Sydney for a social event held by the company before returning to the office at around 7.30pm local time to finish some work, The Australian newspaper reported.

New South Wales police said emergency services were called to the company office, which is in the middle of peak auditing season, at 12.20am on Saturday when the officers located the body.

The woman was reportedly escorted from the club by staff due to excessive consumption of alcohol.

Police, however, said a review of CCTV footage suggested she was not visibly inebriated. They are not currently treating the death as suspicious.

David Larocca, Ernst & Young’s chief executive in Oceania, said the company was “deeply shocked and saddened” and is in the process of conducting a “comprehensive and wide-ranging internal review”.

“Our hearts go out the family and we have been in contact to offer our support and condolences,” he said, adding that the company’s chief mental health officer will be part of the review.

“Counselling has been offered to all staff and team members. We have an established EPA program that’s available 24/7 to our people and their families, as well as onsite counselling services.”

The staff at the firm were emailed by management on Monday to inform them about the incident at the Sydney office.

“While the police investigation is ongoing we have been informed that there were no suspicious circumstances,” the email read.

The employees said they have been offered mental health counselling by the company.