Services giant PwC has put a partner on leave over allegations he rated the attractiveness of female staff with colleagues. 

It is alleged that the staff member threatened a former colleague in a phone call and attended male-only events where female personnel were rated on their attractiveness.

PwC has reportedly brought in law firm Ashurst to handle the inquiry.

An official complaint accuses the man of attending a men-only gathering referred to internally as the “Section 5-5” event, at which attendees would allegedly rate the top five most attractive females in the firm.

Additionally, the partner is alleged to have made threats of assault during a phone call to a former staff member and repeatedly redialled the number after the call ended, among allegations made against the partner have taken place over the past several years.

“The firm takes these allegations seriously and has appointed external counsel to investigate them. In the interim, while the allegations are under investigation, relevant personnel are on leave from the firm,” a PwC spokesman said this week.

“Our policies are clear about the standards of behaviour that we require from all our people. The firm encourages our people to raise concerns about the workplace through our ‘Speak Up’ program. The firm will take appropriate steps if the investigation finds that the allegations are substantiated.”

Reports say PwC has looked into the state of the partner’s team, which saw high turnover in staff based on results from the firm’s annual staff survey.

But the inquiries involved interviews with groups of personnel together, and no staff raised any problems in front of their co-workers.