The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued its report on The FDIC’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Program.
Sexual harassment can have profound effects and serious consequences for the harassed individual, fellow colleagues, and the agency as a whole. It can undermine an agency’s mission by creating a hostile work environment that lowers productivity and morale, affects the agency’s reputation and credibility, and exposes the agency to judgments for monetary damages. Establishing an effective sexual harassment prevention program and addressing sexual harassment allegations in a prompt and effective manner can protect employees and the agency against the risk of such harm and costs. Our Office conducted an evaluation to determine whether the FDIC implemented an effective sexual harassment prevention program to facilitate the reporting of sexual harassment allegations and address reported allegations in a prompt and effective manner. This was a follow-up to our 2020 evaluation, Preventing and Addressing Sexual Harassment (EVAL-20-006).
We determined the FDIC has not implemented an effective sexual harassment prevention program that facilitates the reporting of sexual harassment misconduct allegations and has not always investigated and addressed allegations of sexual harassment promptly and effectively. Specifically, we found that FDIC leadership at several levels:
- Has not demonstrated sufficient commitment to, and accountability for, the Anti-Harassment Program (AHP);
- Has not implemented an effective program structure or dedicated sufficient resources to the program;
- Does not have an effective system for tracking, addressing, and documenting allegations;
- Has not established adequate complaint procedures or an adequate AHP policy; and
- Has not provided sufficient training to its supervisors and staff.
This occurred because the FDIC has not sustained many program improvements that were initiated as a result of our prior 2020 evaluation. As a result, the FDIC is experiencing an environment of distrust, and many employees do not feel comfortable reporting sexual harassment at the FDIC or are afraid of reporting for fear of retaliation. Absent an AHP with committed leadership; an effective complaint tracking system; and updated policies, procedures, and training; the FDIC cannot ensure that it has taken all of the steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment, facilitate reporting, and promptly and appropriately address sexual harassment allegations.
We made 24 recommendations to the FDIC to address the findings in our report. The FDIC concurred with all of our recommendations and plans to complete corrective actions by March 31, 2025.