Subcommittee Seeks to Hold CFPB Accountable As Whistleblowers Testify of Discrimination and Retaliation

Press Release

The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing today to hear new evidence from employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about discrimination and retaliation at their workplace.

The Committee first began investigating allegations of widespread discrimination and retaliation against CFPB employees in April of 2014. Today's hearing is the fourth at which CFPB employees have testified about discrimination and retaliation at the Bureau. At two other hearings, Committee members directed questions about the employees' allegations and the CFPB's unacceptable workplace environment to the Bureau's director, Richard Cordray, who promised to take action.

"Of all the federal financial agencies, the CFPB has the worst track record of protecting its own employees against discrimination. The per capita number of Equal Employment Opportunity complaints at the CFPB is far higher than at other federal agencies. Despite disturbing reports of low morale and Congressional investigations, the leadership at the CFPB continues to turn a blind eye to the treatment of its own people," said Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Sean Duffy (R-WI). "The CFPB is more concerned with bad press than the underlying problem, and has done little more than run an ineffective internal PR campaign to assuage employee concerns."

Key Takeaways from the Hearing:

Despite the Committee's urging of Director Cordray to take appropriate action to address discrimination and retaliation at the CFPB, over the past year this unacceptable behavior has gotten worse.

New evidence indicates that a culture of discrimination and retaliation still permeates the CFPB, showing the need for greater accountability and oversight of the agency in order to ensure that serious issues such as these are addressed effectively and promptly.

Any action that the CFPB has already taken to address discrimination and retaliation against employees has been ineffective and insufficient.

Source