Burgeoning Sex Scandal Pits Biden Against His Biggest Backers at Critical Moment
A new report sheds light on a pervasive culture of sexual harassment plaguing a major federal entity under the watch of President Joe Biden.
Law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton was tasked with investigating the workplace at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in 2023, and released its 234-page report on Tuesday. Throughout the investigation, 500 individuals, close to one-in-ten employees at the entire FDIC, reported “experiences of sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct” in the workplace to the firm’s tip line.
The incidents reported to the firm, the report said, “did not occur in a vacuum,” and were rather the result of a “misogynistic,” “patriarchal,” “insular” and “outdated” workplace. In its executive summary, the firm pulled out specific accounts of such sexual harassment that it discovered during its investigation.
“Women in one field office recounted how, to their dismay, it became routine to hear their supervisor talk about their breasts and legs and his sex life,” the report stated.
“A woman examiner reported on the shock of receiving a picture of an FDIC senior examiner’s private parts out of the blue while serving on detail in a field office, only to be told later by others in that field office that she should stay away from him because he had a ‘reputation,’” the firm reported. (Read more from “Burgeoning Sex Scandal Pits Biden Against His Biggest Backers at Critical Moment” HERE)
