Martin Gruenberg, the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), is facing a barrage of calls from lawmakers to resign after a scathing 234-page report detailed pervasive sexual harassment, discrimination, and bullying in the agency, Elisabeth Buchwald reported for CNN Business.
If Gruenberg heeds the calls for his resignation, there could be significant ramifications for banks across the country. I Photo: Center for American Progress Flickr
If he heeds the calls, there could be significant ramifications for banks across the country.
The report, undertaken by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and commissioned by the FDIC, confirmed the findings of a November Wall Street Journal investigation revealing a long-standing problematic culture.
It did not find that Gruenberg alone was responsible for the issues described in depth in the report based on interviews with over 500 employees.
“We do recognize that, as a number of FDIC employees put it in talking about Chairman Gruenberg, culture ‘starts at the top,’” the report said. It also documented several instances where he lashed out at subordinates “particularly when being delivered bad news or conveyed views with which he disagrees.”
That’s caused staffers to delay delivering news they fear would upset him. Gruenberg’s temperament “may hinder his ability to establish trust and confidence in leading meaningful culture change,” the report added.
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