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38 | Th e M Rep o RT O r i g i nat i O n S e r v i c i n g a na ly t i c S S e c O n da r y m a r k e t SERVICING The laTesT cFPB director responds to discrimination complaints The employee review process was creating 'differential outcomes', according to Cordray. r esponding to allegations of racial and gender discrimination at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the bureau's director, Richard Cor- dray, appeared before the House Financial Services Committee in August. Cordray said the bureau is working to improve the work- ing environment and review processes for its employees. "Because of the speed with which we tried to build this new agency, we have found that we did not get everything right for our own employees," Cordray told House members after describing his own sense of urgency to "get things done" amid "tremendous pressure." About half of all employee grievances filed with CFPB have concerned employee performance reviews, according to Cordray, and the bureau is now overhaul- ing its review process. "Whether the distinction was headquarters versus field, or one part of the bureau versus an- other, or bargaining unit versus non-bargaining unit employees, or other categories like age and race, we perceived that the review system was creating dif- ferential outcomes that indicated the system was unsatisfactory and not working out as in- tended," Cordray said during the hearing. He also stated his intention to bring the bureau's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion into his office, where he can monitor it closely. The office has begun "bureau-wide listening sessions" in which employees discuss their personal experi- ences at work. While Cordray would not discuss any individual discrimi- nation complaints, he said, "We take each of these allegations very seriously, and we will continue to work diligently to resolve any issues through all appropriate channels." CFPB's senior enforcement attorney, Angela Martin, told the same House committee earlier this year she is "a victim of dis- crimination by the bureau" and she has suffered "severe retali- ation" since filing a complaint. She further ventured that her experience is "a microcosm of the larger story of what happens to individuals within the bureau when they step forward with complaints of wrongdoing." "Because of the speed with which we tried to build this new agency, we have found that we did not get everything right for our own employees." — Richard Cordray, CFPB