Strip Clubs, Lewd Photos and a Boozy Hotel: The Toxic Atmosphere at Bank Regulator FDIC

A male Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. supervisor in San Francisco invited employees to a strip club. A supervisor in Denver had sex with his employee, told other employees about it and pressed her to drink whiskey during work. Senior bank examiners texted female employees photos of their penises.

All of the men remained employed at the agency. 

A toxic work environment at the FDIC, one of the nation’s top banking regulators, has for years caused employees to flee from an agency they say enabled and failed to punish bad behavior, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation based on interviews with FDIC employees as well as legal filings, union grievances, Equal Employment Opportunity complaints, emails, text messages and other internal documents.  

A cultural reckoning on sexual harassment, sexism in the workplace and the #MeToo movement has transformed offices in recent years. Yet the FDIC continues to show a hesitance to impose harsh discipline on managers accused of misconduct, employees said.