TCU will inspect policies to combat sexual harassment at Caixa

The president of the TCU (Union Court of Auditors), Minister Ana Arraes, will determine this Wednesday (29) the opening of an inspection at Caixa Econômica Federal to verify the entire policy of preventing and combating sexual harassment at the bank.

Caixa’s president, Pedro Guimarães, is the target of accusations of sexual harassment reported by employees of the institution. The case was revealed on Tuesday (28) by the Metrópoles portal, which also reports the existence of an investigation by the Federal Public Ministry.

The episodes include, according to the women’s reports, intimate touches without consent, inappropriate proposals to female employees and other inappropriate conduct.

The inspection of the TCU should aim at surveying the entire policy of preventing and combating sexual harassment within Caixa, examining reporting channels, policies for preserving the confidentiality of the whistleblower, whether there is a safeguard for those who make a complaint and the rules for monitoring these themes.

In 2020, the court of accounts started an operational audit to prepare an X-ray of the subject in the federal public administration. The process was reported by Minister Walton Alencar.

One of the results was the formulation of a model for preventing and combating harassment, which should serve as a reference for future audits. The work, however, focused on recommending best practices, without dealing individually with possible failures in the existing mechanisms of public bodies.

In the account of Caixa employees, accusations emerged that the bank’s internal affairs department did not treat the complaints with due secrecy. According to the Metrópoles portal, one of the complainants said that her case, after being informed to the internal affairs department, reached the hands of assistants in Guimarães’s office.

A Caixa employee said in a statement to Sheet which was also harassed by Guimarães, president of the institution. She claims to have been pulled by the neck and to have been in shock after the episode. The woman asked to have her identity preserved for fear of suffering retaliation from the bank’s command.

Interlocutors at Palácio do Planalto say that the maintenance of Pedro Guimarães at the head of Caixa Econômica Federal has become unsustainable amidst the complaints involving the executive.

To stem the crisis involving the command of the public bank, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) decided to choose a woman to replace Guimarães: secretary Daniella Marques, right-hand man of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy).