A recent independent investigation has exposed serious problems at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), highlighting a workplace atmosphere described as “patriarchal” and “insular.” This investigation was carried out by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and it uncovered a number of troubling practices within the FDIC.
Released on Tuesday, the 234-page report reveals how the FDIC has been mishandling harassment complaints. Often, people who did something wrong were just moved to different parts of the organization or even got better jobs. This situation was first brought to light by a story in The Wall Street Journal and has now been confirmed by the detailed investigation.
The law firm started looking into these issues after setting up a hotline in mid-January, which received over 500 complaints mostly from current employees. These complaints were mainly about sexual harassment and discrimination. Despite the FDIC having a program to stop harassment, the report found it really doesn’t work well. Out of 92 complaints filed between 2015 and 2023, almost none led to serious punishment.
Some employees, especially those from groups that aren’t well represented, felt they were just there to make numbers look good. They and others were scared to speak up because they were afraid of what might happen to them. One person even said she was very scared for her safety after a colleague who was stalking her wouldn’t stop sending her inappropriate messages, even after she complained.
The report also talked a lot about the FDIC’s chairman, Martin Gruenberg. It mentioned that he has a reputation for getting very angry, which has made people doubt if he can really change the culture at the FDIC.
In response, Gruenberg admitted there are problems and said he was sorry for any mistakes he might have made. He’s been in charge for a long time, about ten years, under different presidents. But now, some politicians from both major parties think he should quit. If he does, Travis Hill, the vice chairman, might take over for a while.
When asked, the White House didn’t clearly say if the president still supports Gruenberg. Meanwhile, the FDIC didn’t give any more information apart from what Gruenberg said.
This report puts a lot of pressure on the FDIC to fix its workplace problems and make sure its employees and everyone else can trust it again.
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