One day after the dismissal of Pedro Guimarães for allegations of sexual harassment, the command of Caixa Econômica Federal prepares an action plan to deepen the investigations into the reports of the bank’s employees.
On one of the fronts, Caixa’s board of directors holds an extraordinary meeting this Thursday afternoon (30) to deliberate on the measures to be taken to investigate Guimarães’ conduct, despite the fact that he has already resigned from office.
The new nominee for the presidency of the bank, Daniella Marques, is also working on a plan and intends to establish a crisis committee at the company to investigate the events narrated by the victims and identify other possible parties involved.
The two movements are independent, but go in the same direction of outlining a broad diagnosis of the situation within the bank, identifying possible failures that allowed the harassment to continue. Another objective is to seek to strengthen mechanisms to prevent and combat harassment.
The preliminary assessment is that, given the reports, Guimarães’ resignation alone is not enough. The fear is that an organizational culture has been established in the bank that cannot be tolerated.
The accusations of sexual harassment against Guimarães were revealed on Tuesday (28) by the Metrópoles portal, which also reported the existence of an investigation by the Federal Public Ministry.
The women narrated episodes such as intimate touches without consent, invitations incompatible with the professional environment and other inappropriate behavior.
In the account of Caixa employees there were also accusations that other members of the board and of Guimarães’s cabinet covered up the situation.
The Metrópoles portal also reported that one of the whistleblowers said that her case, after being informed to the internal affairs department, reached the hands of the then president’s assistants, violating the secrecy that belongs to this type of accusation.
A Caixa employee said in a statement to Sheet which was also harassed by Guimarães, president of the institution. She claimed 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.
Guimarães resigned this Wednesday (29), one day after the allegations were made public. In an open letter posted on his social media, he denied the allegations and said he was the target of “political rancor in an election year”.
Right arm of Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy), Daniella Marques has already been officially appointed to the position, but is still awaiting the analysis of her documents by the bank’s eligibility committee. The expectation is that she can take office next week.
After Guimarães left, Caixa Econômica Federal reported that an internal investigation into harassment was opened in May this year and is still ongoing.
According to the statement, the investigation is carried out in secrecy, within the scope of the internal affairs department, and therefore was not known to other areas of the bank. The note said the reports were received through its whistleblower channel.
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