Harassment was either experienced or personally witnessed by more than one-third of employees of the federal bank deposit insurance agency who responded to a survey, according to an agency report Thursday that is the first in what is apparently a multi-part review effort.
The report, issued by the office of inspector general (OIG) for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), also said its review of cases and settlement agreements apparently supported some of the agency employee perceptions. That is, specifically, that some FDIC managers had not protected victims of harassment and retaliated against those who filed a complaint.
Since a year ago, the FDIC has been roiled by a sexual harassment scandal that led to the creation of a special office at the agency to investigate alleged harassment and to address, and fix, the workplace culture at the agency. The scandal also ultimately led to the retirement of the FDIC Board, Martin Gruenberg, who said he will leave the agency on Jan. 19.
Thursday’s OIG report contended that the lack of protections for victims of alleged harassment occurred because leadership did not consistently implement FDIC’s policies and stated core values, “specifically, fairness, accountability, and integrity.”
Further, the report charges, the agency did not consistently maintain documentation related to disciplinary actions resulting from complaints of harassment and related misconduct.
The report also knocks understanding and accountability among executives of sexual harassment issues.
“FDIC executives have varying levels of knowledge regarding harassment and related misconduct complaints across the FDIC,” the report states. “Also, FDIC policies do not require allegations of harassment or related misconduct involving FDIC employees to be reported to the appropriate FDIC stakeholders.”
Underscoring that Thursday’s review was titled “Part 1,” the report notes that OIG’s investigative work on “specific allegations and complaints of harassment and related misconduct against several senior FDIC officials remains ongoing.”
The OIG makes several recommendations in its report to improve the agency’s workplace culture, including that the FDIC:
- set a tone at the top where all FDIC executives model the FDIC’s core ethical values;
- include a mechanism to provide support and protection for employees who fear or experience retaliation;
- establish an agreement with a third-party to conduct investigations of complaints against senior FDIC officials;
- develop a process to periodically report complaints of harassment and related misconduct to appropriate FDIC stakeholders;
- restate FDIC employees’ obligation to report allegations of misconduct;
- include the OIG Hotline as an option for reporting misconduct.
The OIG said the agency concurred with the recommendations and intends to complete all corrective actions by June 30.