"And then I left." The Real Cost of Harassment, Assault and Discrimination in Financial Services
This is part 7 of a series of articles on sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination in financial services. You can read more about the genesis of the project, as well as the other installments to date on the series landing page.
Over the course of this series, I’ve shared stories of sexual harassment, assault and discrimination in financial services, each one a snapshot in time, with little indication of the long term effects of the incidents. Today, I’m sharing stories where there is a clear line between discrimination or harassment and a career consequence for the victim. Yes, I said victim. That’s not a typo.
The stories are from women who left their jobs, changed roles, and interrupted their careers- not because they wanted to, but because they felt they had to leave a bad situation. Leaving a firm or a role at an inopportune time can be damaging to a career trajectory. Our industry often wonders why so few women make it to the C-Suite; women opting out of abusive workplaces is an overlooked factor.
The stories below are told by the women-in-finance who experienced them and are shared with their permission, in the words of the women who wrote or spoke them to me. I edited some submissions for clarity, length, and to remove identifying details of all parties.
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I started working at my old company as an entry level employee. Over many years, I eventually made it to the C-Suite. Once I became an executive, the men who had previously been supportive were suddenly hostile to my focus on women and gender equity. The hostility was so bad that I’m no longer with that company. Unfortunately, it can still threaten your career to focus on gender dynamics. Having a developed network outside my firm was a saving grace for me.
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I had been named "Relationship Manager of the Year" so my firm sent me and my husband on a recognition award conference. We were greeted at the welcome reception by the corporate division head. First, he asked which one of us worked for the company. My husband pointed at me as I said, "I do." The division head turned to me and said, "Oh, are you an assistant?" "No," my husband interjected, "She's a Senior Vice President." The division head didn't look the least bit embarrassed; he just said what a long flight it was to get there. I wondered, "On that long flight, you didn't think about looking up the names of the people who were being recognized? And how clueless can you be to assume that a woman must be an assistant, much less say so out loud?" Instead of saying this, I smiled and nodded to his story. I resigned the next year.
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When I was an advisor in a team setting, the lead advisor of my team was asking me to do things I knew I shouldn't do with client accounts. I refused to and I was labeled as difficult. They offered me a salaried assistant position even though I was an advisor making major contributions to retention and client acquisition. I declined and soon after left for another office.
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I was part of a three-person financial analysis team at a major firm. I was more qualified than my two male colleagues, in both education and experience. I compared my performance review with one of my colleagues, and discovered that, while we both received the same rating, he got a year-end bonus and I didn’t. My manager and I discussed my salary in general, agreeing that I should be paid more, given my education and experience, but nothing was done. I felt trapped, however, I was a single mother and the family’s sole breadwinner. If I made an issue of my compensation, would I be seen as a troublemaker and would there be repercussions? I felt powerless and waited for my compensation to be adjusted, but it never happened. After waiting a year and a half, I decided to look for another job.
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With most instances of harassment, assault, and discrimination, it’s hard to know all of the career repercussions from the incident, and the victim’s decision about whether or not to report the incident to supervisors. In talking to dozens of women for this series, I noticed that many of them didn’t see the whole impact on their careers until they had years of distance from the events.
Above we see that harassment and discrimination can lead directly to career changing consequences for the victims.
This CFA Institute interview with Suni Hartford sums up the problem:
“Male attrition tends to be led by external pull factors, whereas female attrition is led by internal push factors,” she said.
So where does that leave us?
“Men, (and I know I’m stereotyping) tend to be pulled. That is, their rationale for leaving a firm is they are presented with an offer of a better title, greater compensation, upside potential,” Harford said. “Women tend to be pushed. They don’t like the culture, they don’t feel that the firm or their manager gets it, fail to receive appropriate compensation, perceive a lack of opportunity.”
In a recent investigation into harassment in financial services, “employment attorneys confirmed that pattern. Several lawyers said that in their experience, most women across industries who spoke up about harassment wound up leaving their jobs — whether they got fired, quit, or agreed to leave in a settlement — while most of the men who created a hostile environment either stayed on at the same firm or quickly found employment elsewhere.”
Now What?
Victims forced off their career paths is heartbreaking on the individual level. At the industry level, it is devastating to the collective talent pool. We regularly bemoan the fact there are so few women executives in the financial services; meanwhile industry systems seemed design to treat women as an aberration that needs to fit in or get out.
So how do we support women to have fulfilling financial services careers with equal opportunities at every level of the business?
I don’t pretend to have all of the answers but below I’ve offered one idea to consider at the systemic level, and
a couple at the individual behavior level. But before we jump to working on solutions, I urge you to first continue listening to women’s’ experiences to better understand the problem.
Systemic: Large firms must have clear and accessible mechanisms to report harassment, discrimination, and assault. The reports must be taken seriously, irrespective of how much revenue the accused represents for the company.
For small firms with no HR, or where the owners are the ones harassing and discriminating, women don’t have much recourse except to sue, or leave. If treating women with respect because it’s the right thing to do isn’t enough incentive (and it should be), consider the financial cost of lawsuits or employee turnover, and then treat all employees with professional respect.
FINRA should consider updating its regulations around disclosure of harassment. Currently harassment arbitrations are not disclosed on BrokerCheck so a broker who has been fired or “allowed to resign” from one firm, can go on to the next firm and do the same thing again with no warning to the new firm. For a detailed (and maddening) view into this practice, check out this 2018 investigation by journalist Susan Antilla. Though FINRA may not intentionally be protecting harassers, the current systems are an impediment to women’s success in the field.
Individual Behavior: Intentionally expand your network. Listen to more women. Ask a woman colleague about her experience and truly listen. Then ask how you can help and actually follow through. This help may cost you time or money in the short term, but being a champion for women, and especially women of color will pay dividends throughout your career.
If your company is working on this issue, I would be happy to share learning resources, and I would be pleased to help you advance the conversation at your next conference or event.