FDIC report outlines 'misogynistic,' 'patriarchal' 'good ol' boys' workplace culture

livemint.com:

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. 's workplace culture describes an environment that fostered “hostile, abusive, unprofessional, or inappropriate conduct," and questions whether the agency's chairman is credible to lead the agency through a cultural transformation. The report released Tuesday by law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton outlines incidents of stalking, harassment, homophobia and other violations of employment regulations.

The incidents span from field offices to headquarters in Washington, and "arose within a workplace culture that is ‘misogynistic,’ ‘patriarchal,’ ‘insular,’ and ‘outdated’ — a ‘good ol’ boys’ club where favoritism is common, wagons are circled around managers, and senior executives with well-known reputations for pursuing romantic relations with subordinates enjoy long careers without any apparent consequence," the report states. More than 500 workers reported incidents of harassment, discrimination and other issues. The report comes after the Wall Street Journal last November published an article that outlined details of the agency's workplace culture.

The FDIC's board ordered the review of its workplace culture last November. FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s behavior is also examined in the report, describing “deeply unsettling exchanges" between the chair and his subordinates. His “reputation raises questions about the credibility of the leadership’s response to the crisis and the ‘moral authority’ to lead a cultural transformation," the report states.