Illegal campaigning, rule breaches, disqualification. No, this isn’t a developing nation’s delicate transition to democracy. It’s PwC’s US leadership election. Friends, it got spicy.

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PwC strips partners of leadership roles over election rule breaches

PwC stripped three senior partners of their management roles and disqualified them from the race to lead its US business. The contest limited using partner meetings and electronic communications to campaign, but three contenders were found to have committed “significant violations” of the rules, according to the FT ($).

Neil Dhar, once considered a favorite, was removed as a candidate in December and dropped from his role as co-leader of the company’s US consulting unit. John Garvey, PwC’s global financial services leader, and Julien Courbe, global chief client officer, also had their management roles taken away. The race was won last month by auditor Paul Griggs. He’ll take over in July.

Ellen Walsh, PwC US governance committee chair, said: “When concerns about our election were raised in November, consistent with our speak-up culture, those concerns were investigated objectively, our governance bodies responded and took prompt and appropriate action. The governance process worked as designed.”

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