Ernst & Young distancing itself from Houston Astros executive

By: Richard M.

Ernst & Young is scrambling to scrub online evidence of its ties to Brandon Taubman, who was fired last week from the Houston Astros for a misogynistic, post-game rant, The Post has learned.

Taubman, who had been assistant general manager of the Major League Baseball team, jump-started his career at EY — a fact the accounting giant highlighted on April 30 when it posted a glowing interview with the baseball executive on its alumni page.

In the interview, Taubman called working at EY — a firm that itself has lately grappled with allegations of rampant sexism — “a badge of honor” and said he “learned from the best and brightest.”

“I also met my wife at EY, who still works for the firm,” Taubman said. “So EY has helped me professionally and personally in many different ways.”

As of Friday, the interview had been scrubbed from EY’s Web site — a day after the Astros fired Taubman for reportedly declaring how happy he was to have hired relief pitcher Roberto Osuna, who had been suspended for domestic violence allegations.

A spokesman for EY didn’t answer questions about why the firm removed the four-page Taubman interview, saying he was still “trying to learn more details.”

“Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—ing glad we got Osuna!” Taubman reportedly shouted half a dozen times to a group of female reporters on Oct. 19, the day the Astros cinched the American League Championship Series after beating the Yankees.

Sports Illustrated called the outburst “odd,” noting that the women were not even talking to Taubman at the time, and also not talking about Osuna, who had pitched poorly that game.

The Astros snagged Osuna on the cheap last season while he was serving a 75-game suspension for allegedly assaulting the mother of his then-3-year-old child. After first defending Taubman, the Astros fired him on Thursday as other journalists corroborated SI’s version of events.

The scrubbing of EY’s interview with Taubman comes as the firm grapples with its own scandals. On Oct. 21, the Huffington Post revealed the firm subjected female executives to a bizarrely sexist leadership seminar.

“Women’s brains absorb information like pancakes soak up syrup, so it’s hard for them to focus,” a former EY staffer told HuffPost of the advice she was given at the June 2018 seminar by a consultant EY hired. Men’s brains were likened to “waffles” because “information collects in each little waffle square,” allowing them to better focus, the former EY staffer told HuffPost.

Attendees were told that women’s brains are 6 percent to 11 percent smaller than men’s — and advised to avoid “bottle blonde” hair, “crying,” and “high-pitched” voices, according to a 55-page presentation of the training provided to HuffPost.

On Oct. 22, EY said it canceled the program, which also advised women to have manicured nails and to not “flaunt your body.”