FDIC creates two independent offices following workplace culture report

The FDIC has announced that its Board has approved the creation of two new, independent offices, reporting directly to the Board of Directors, to handle claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, and other forms of interpersonal misconduct, as well as claims of retaliation.

The FDIC’s new Office of Professional Conduct (OPC) will intake, investigate, and report on complaints of harassment and interpersonal misconduct, and will determine and enforce discipline against anyone violating the FDIC’s anti-harassment or anti-retaliation policies.

The FDIC’s new Office of Equal Employment Opportunity (OEEO) will intake, investigate, and report complaints of discrimination under the laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The FDIC Board adopted these fundamental structural changes to the agency’s current framework for handling claims of harassment, discrimination, other interpersonal misconduct, and retaliation following feedback from FDIC employees, as well as recommendations in an independent third-party review of the agency’s workplace culture. The new offices approved will have separate functions because each must operate under distinct sets of law and policy.

The work of the OPC will be driven by the FDIC’s Anti-Harassment Program Directive and will serve as a single point of entry for employee complaints of harassment and other interpersonal misconduct. The OEEO will operate under several statutes enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by serving as a single point of entry for employment discrimination claims.

Under the FDIC’s new structure, the OPC and the OEEO will be led by new corporate officers, appointed by the Board, who will report directly to the FDIC Board of Directors.