A new Wall Street Journal profile of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) suggests that the regulator needs its own regulator.
The article “Strip Clubs, Lewd Photos and a Boozy Hotel: The Toxic Atmosphere at Bank Regulator FDIC” creates the impression of a federal agency where inappropriate and frequently out-of-control behavior is nothing unusual. The article, authored by Rebecca Ballhaus, focuses heavily on allegations of sexual harassment of female employees, with repeated charges that women are routinely denied career advancement due to gender discrimination.
The article uses language such as “boys’ club” and “party culture” to describe the FDIC environment, where bad behavior by managers is rarely reprimanded. Heavy alcohol consumption is described as among the most popular vices.
“The agency tolerated a heavy drinking culture,” the article stated. “The FDIC’s 11-story hotel outside Washington, where out-of-town employees stay when attending training, was a party hub, where people have vomited in the elevator and urinated off the roof after nights of heavy drinking. The carousing spawned an Instagram account that posted in 2021: ‘If you haven’t puked off the roof, were you ever really a FIS?’—referring to a bank examiner-in-training.”
The Journal stated its investigation was “based on interviews with FDIC employees as well as legal filings, union grievances, Equal Employment Opportunity complaints, emails, text messages and other internal documents.” The article quoted an unnamed FDIC official who responded by declaring, “Harassment in any form is contrary to the FDIC’s values and our deep commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace.”
However, the Journal also noted that the FDIC “declined to respond to detailed questions about employees’ drinking, specific employees’ claims of harassment and descriptions of sexualized or inappropriate work environments.”
