‘It is not acceptable that there is violence against women’, says new president of Caixa

The new president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Daniella Marques, said this Sunday (3) in an interview with TV Record that she will conduct an agile and rigorous investigation into allegations of sexual harassment made by bank employees against former president Pedro Guimarães.

“I assure you that everything will be done with independence, rigor and seriousness, and, if it is really proven, all appropriate punishments will be carried out,” he said.

Marques reinforced that, as a woman, she understands the feelings of the employees at this time. “I’ve been told that the bank was not a place for women, I know a little about the barriers that guide this cause,” she said.

The new president gave a brief account of her goals at the head of the institution in an interview with the Domingo Espetacular program.

“Caixa is a bank with 161 years of history, with almost 150 million customers and 250,000 employees, but what I proposed as a strategy is that, regardless of the results of the investigations, whether there are culprits or not, this cause is for already said.

“We shouldn’t be talking about harassment. Half of the women in Brazil are victims of harassment at work, so Caixa, which has always been the bank for all Brazilians, from now on — and I have approval from all internal bodies to this—will be the mother of the women’s cause. Violence against women is not acceptable.”

On Wednesday (30), Caixa’s board of directors approved an external audit to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and track other members of the board who covered up the situation.

The decision took into account that victims indicated that the episodes were known to at least part of Caixa’s board of directors and vice-presidents, who did nothing to investigate Guimarães’ conduct.

Marques reinforced the importance of this decision and the agility in finding out what happened.

“I’m going to implement a woman’s pace, fast, with everything at the same time. On Friday, when I signed the term of investiture internally, I met with the high command of Caixa and we defined a plan of action”, he said.

“The first step was the removal of other people who are involved in the investigations, because now we have to protect the institution’s image,” he said.

In this process of identifying who may have colluded with the irregularities, Caixa’s vice president of Wholesale Business, Celso Leonardo Barbosa, also left his post. Barbosa often replaced Guimarães in charge of the institution, and the assessment is that it would be very difficult for him not to be aware of the boss’s conduct.

Marques also wants to create a crisis committee to investigate the episodes narrated by the victims and identify others who might be involved.

The new president of Caixa also stated that one of the priorities in her management will be to contribute to the promotion of small businesses.

“What is the biggest lever for social transformation? Entrepreneurship. All social programs are contracted by Caixa, but, in addition to assistance, we want to provide independence with support for micro-entrepreneurship,” he said.

Daniella Marques worked with Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) in the financial market before joining the current government.

As head of the Special Advisory for Strategic Economic Affairs, he worked behind the scenes of political negotiations, a role he continued to exercise, albeit informally, after taking over, in February, the Special Secretariat for Productivity, Employment and Competitiveness, a position he left to command the box.

Colleagues in the government describe her as a dedicated professional who works for hours on end to ensure the fulfillment of the “missions” given by the minister and President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), with whom she also became a direct interlocutor, frequenting the Palace. of the Plateau.