Thread regarding Charles Schwab Corp. layoffs

@OP you’re not alone. A lot of people have read your story, recognized what you were describing, and spoken up because parts of it clearly hit home for them. Whatever happens next, don’t let anyone make you feel like speaking up was the wrong thing to do. You tried to handle it through the right channels. And when that got you nowhere, you refused to let your experience just disappear. Keep your records. Trust what you lived through. And most importantly, keep your voice. I really hope something much better is waiting for you on the other side of all this.

@1ag thanks for posting this b/c I’ve been wondering the same thing.

Just to clarify, if I post that it sounds like Compliance leadership might be self-serving, overpaid, incompetent and nobody appears interested in fixing the trust and culture problems, then I’m in the clear. But if I say I feel bad for OP, I might get subpoenaed?

Just want to make sure I understand before I comment on anything specific. No interest in being subpoenaed!

@1aq Payback - Sonoran style!

@1aq WTF? There is a war between the Peak and SoMo? Schwab is becoming a very interesting mystery novel.

@1ag 1) Ever hear of VPN? 2) If this leader is really the POS he seems to be, then would they care? They might lose their jobs but they'd take the worthless meat sack with them. 3) Who says all of these posters still work for Schwab? THEY would be even more happy to burn this talking monkey.

@1ag Let Schwab subpoena this - DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SOMOS WHO COME TO THE PEAK NEARLY EVERYNIGHT TO AS--ULT US AND VANDALIZE OUR CARS! This has been going on for years and corporate security does nothing. Tires are expensive to replace and so is an e/r visit due to our low quality/high deductible healthcare plan.

@1ag
Where exactly did you get your law degree? Because “you supported the OP on a public facing anonymous message board, therefore you WILL be subpoenaed” is quite the legal analysis.

That's not how discovery automatically works. Filing a lawsuit doesn't magically require the website to identify everyone who commented, turn over their IP addresses, and send them off to depositions because they expressed support for the OP.

Could someone with relevant firsthand knowledge potentially become a witness? Sure. That's a completely different statement.

But the best part is coming into a thread about alleged retaliation and employees being afraid to speak up and warning anonymous commenters that “Schwab will know who you are and what you said.”

Nothing says “there's no culture problem here” quite like trying to scare people into silence.
Could relevant witnesses or records potentially become part of discovery? Of course. That's very different from claiming everyone supporting the OP will be identified, deposed, or dragged into court.

Ironically, trying to scare people into silence with “Schwab will know who you are and what you said” fits remarkably well with the concern being discussed throughout this thread: people becoming reluctant to speak up because they fear consequences for doing so.

WOW, this thread is out of control. I’ve read some of the posts and while I agree with many, some are way out there.

The main issue comes down to leadership, or, lack thereof.

Until Leadership is held to the same standards, conduct and otherwise, as the rest of us, nothing will change.

Be prepared to deal with leadership’s attempt to repair the damage they created! If they want to know how this has spun out of control, just look in the mirror!!

There’s an old saying that describes Compliance perfectly: The fish stinks from the head down!!

@1ag that sure shut everyone up. Lol!

To everyone on here supporting OP, you do realize that you will be supboenaed if she sues, don't you? The website will be court ordered to turn over your IP address and you will be identified and Schwab will know who you are and what you said and you may have to give a deposition or even go to court.

@1a9 Interesting how quickly someone showed up to attack OP instead of addressing the substance of what was reported. Kind of proves the point about deflection. Looks like something hit a nerve.

@1a9 still more interested in who’s posting than what’s being said.

Seems like you’ve got plenty of time to read every comment and decide which “random” posts are OP, so maybe there are more productive things YOU could be doing. After all, if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.

@1aa That's why I won't hire women anymore. I don't wanna deal with the craziness and all that other stuff you don't gotta deal with when you have men working for you. Last time I brought a woman aboard, she wasn't with us even a year and she was taking maternity leave. I said "no more!" at that point.

@1aa
@1a8 I've been in the corporate world for decades too, and yes, I've seen workplace affairs. But I completely disagree that an affair is the “normal” explanation for this kind of situation.

What I've seen far more often is cronyism. Leaders protect favored people, overlook behavior they wouldn't tolerate from others, promote people who contribute to toxic environments, and then manage the people who raise concerns rather than address the underlying problem.

That's literally the issue being discussed throughout this thread.

So when you read a story about alleged favoritism, protection and retaliation and your first thought is “she probably slept with her manager,” you're replacing the facts presented with an entirely different story based on a stereotype.

Affairs happen. Cronyism happens a he-l of a lot more, and it doesn't require anyone to sleep with anybody.

@1a0 sure it’s possible the OP is the common denominator. But when multiple people have raised concerns about the same manager and he still gets promoted something feels off. Moving OP to another manager would have been the easiest way to find out.

“Nine to five, for service and devotion
You would think that I would deserve a fair promotion
Want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let me “

• D Parton

I been in HR almost 25 years and I can tell you that nearly every complaint like this comes from a woman who has an affair with her manager then gets mad when he won't leave his wife for her.

Guys, please stop doing this with people who work for you! You may be the innocent one but we still end up having to fire you.

Gals, grow up! A workplace fling won't advance your career and a married man is not going to divorce his wife so the 2 of you can go off and live happily ever after.

@1a0 OP had been with the company for years without a single issue. Things started going downhill after she began reporting to this manager. Meanwhile, multiple other employees have also raised concerns about his behavior. At some point, calling OP the “common denominator” starts looking like an awfully convenient way to ignore the actual pattern.

I've come across a lot people like OP in my day. In nearly evry case they had simlar experiences on other teams, in other depts., and at other compnies. Perpetual bad luck? Multiple consective coincidences? Or are they just the common denomnator.

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change"

• M. Jackson

In the old days, Compliance made sure the firm followed the rules! And people worked in the office five days a week so leadership could keep an eye on them!

I don’t know what the he-l happened. Seems like nowadays if you’re in the right crowd, anger-control issues get you promoted, throwing up on someone is no big deal, and extra spending is just fine. Don’t make me come out of retirement and show you folks how it’s done.

Back in my day, a rule was a rule!

I heard he went for MT’s director role when she moved into her current position, but they ended up hiring an external candidate. Apparently, he was pretty pi---d about it. MT went back to leadership and pushed for a new PL role to be created just for him. He even told someone in the office no other woman had ever done that much for him. So yeah, when you look at the level of sponsorship and then at how concerns about his behavior were handled, the favoritism is pretty hard to ignore.

@OP, after reading all these comments, I hope you’re finding some comfort in knowing you weren’t alone and that others saw the same issues too.

I still don’t understand why MT kept you under him despite what she knew. People on my own team had also escalated concerns to our director about his aggressive tone and retaliatory behavior. Yet you were still expected to stay under him and carry the consequences despite asking for help. I’m really sorry you had to go through all of this.

@132 Do not. Do not. Do not raise this to the ombudsman or HR. They are complicit and imp0tent to effect change. HR works for the company. The ombudsman effectively does. Only change is litigation or board replacement. And no one has enough shares to void Chuck and the institutional holders. Basically 90%. They only care about buybacks and cost cutting.

Several employees keep describing the same disturbing pattern: concerns get brushed off, facts get twisted, and the person who speaks up ends up being treated like the problem. If that’s how Compliance handles concerns from its own employees, how are employees and clients supposed to trust that the same function will hold itself to the standards it expects from everyone else?

It’s likely they are because last time someone raised concerns over similar unfair treatment, albeit it was more about favoring certain employees, they convened not out of concern but rather about how to figure out who posted the comment. This is not hard, the company should chose to see the pattern, whether it’s this OP or similar claims brought forth by others or, at bare minimum, look at engagement scores, they could choose to do the right thing. Unfortunately that is not the path they have chosen and that is the difference and we all see it, there is no accountability or simple self reflection that is taken. I’m sure it’s always the same statement “it’s not us it them, they just complain about everything.” Don’t blame or punish people who had chose to take the risk to say something. True leadership means you do the right thing even if it means holding senior leaders to the same expectations as the people that report to them. Until then, the inappropriate relationships, the demeaning behaviors and lack of general respect for others will continue. The tone is set at the top.

Do anyone know if the Compliance leaders are aware of this thread?
Can someone raise this to ombudsman or HR

OP’s reporting manager had openly said in team meetings that he had struggled with anger. His supervisor, who had sponsored and supported him professionally, knew about this before making him a people leader.
OP was then moved from her existing team and placed under him. At the time, his supervisor told OP, “We need to do everything for him.”
Then OP started experiencing the behavior firsthand.
Every time OP went to management asking for help, the concerns were minimized. She was told she was “immature,” that it was a communication issue, that her manager was still new in the role and needed more time, and that she needed to work things out directly with her manager.
Meanwhile, other concerns about his aggressive behavior toward employees were reportedly being raised with his supervisor.
According to OP, every time she escalated concerns, she faced consequences. She even received an email from her manager linking negative treatment to the fact that she had raised concerns about him with his supervisor.
His supervisor knew what was happening.
The final time OP went to leadership asking for help, the response was not to separate her from the manager or independently address the underlying concerns. Instead, OP received a fabricated written warning drafted by the same manager whose conduct she had been reporting. His supervisor and the Corporate Compliance leader reviewed it and signed off on it.
After two years of asking for help, the employee raising the concerns became the one disciplined. That is a serious failure of this leadership!

@yz lol. Right. The media contacts that lied about voting and paid $700,000,000? Or the ones that support Hot Wheels in his deep red state?

Does anyone have media contacts? Flag this thread to them and they will fish this out.

TX has headquarters makes corporates take away all worker rights.

@x8 Three managers closing ranks against an employee for speaking up instead of addressing the problem being reported is an abuse of power. OP should consult with an attorney.

@wa Everyone needs to remember there are three sides to every story!

Why in the world would someone face repercussions for getting sick at a conference? People get sick. It happens. Who amongst us hasn’t thrown up on someone?

As for the experienced MD who was pushed out, maybe all that experience and institutional knowledge was the problem. Someone competent enough to challenge people clearly needs to be dealt with.

And you’re being more than a little unfair to the “acquaintance.” My understanding is she left on her own accord. She simply had too much pizzazz for Schwab. She’s moved on to bigger and better things like podcasts.

When three leaders align against an employee for speaking up instead of fixing the problem being reported, that stops looking like management. It starts looking like serious dysfunction.

@wm Who knew Compliance leadership would finally succeed at bringing everyone together? Lol

@ny Good advice, but SnagIt keeps the communication on a corporate asset. Better to literally take a picture of the screen and retain legal items off-site and off-corporate systems. Yes it is a policy issue. And possibly a legal one. But if you go to discovery you'll want it. The alternative is to hand or personal electronic write contemporaneous notes with the date, time, quotes and summaries. That way you can cite specifics for arbitration or litigation.

Wow, a lot of nasty comments about Compliance leadership on here!

It seems like everyone is failing to recognize these amazing engagement scores! This post is nearing 6000 views, with over 300 likes and the comments keep coming.

People are collaborating, sharing feedback and actively participating. It’s everything leadership has always dreamed of! I think they deserve some recognition for that.

The Compliance Org is dysfunctional and toxic. Just this year, an MD, while representing the firm at an industry conference, vomited in one of the sessions! Yes, you read that correctly! It was an embarrassment for the firm and Compliance. What were the repercussions? Nothing of course. Another example is when compliance leadership laid off a very well regarded, very experienced MD to make room for an “acquaintance” of a compliance leader. What happened next was expected when an MD is hired with no experience: total disfunction and disaster. The person not only damaged internal relationships, but could not even handle the most basic functions of a manger, let alone an MD. The person left after only a few months on the job.

Now the compliance org waits for another reorg. Rather than fix the systemic issues, compliance thinks moving people around will make a difference!

This is what happens when you have leadership with little to no experience working in a large firm.

@OP I’m so sorry you had to go through this. It’s unfortunate MT continued to protect her protégé despite repeated concerns about his behavior and how it affected others.

To recap: concerns had already been raised by OP and other employees. Leadership had multiple opportunities to address the underlying problem with the manager. They could have moved OP to a different reporting line and simply seen whether the alleged “problem” followed. They never did.
Instead, after OP raised yet another concern, OP became the one facing disciplinary consequences. Three leaders, including the manager at the center of the concerns, ultimately stood behind a written warning built on a fabricated narrative. The consequences were very real: OP’s annual bonus was impacted and career mobility was frozen.

And let me guess: while OP was disciplined for raising concerns, the manager whose behavior had reportedly generated complaints from multiple employees faced no consequences at all. I agree, those three leaders need to be investigated and disciplined.

@OP sorry you had to deal with this difficult situation. From what I’ve heard, several employees had raised concerns about the manager’s behavior, yet he continued to be protected. What’s especially troubling is that you were the one punished while the underlying problem remained unaddressed.

@OP sorry this happened. From what I’ve heard, this manager being difficult to work with is hardly news. If leadership is going to continue believing they’re worthy of the enormous pay, bonuses and stock awards they give themselves, maybe they could learn to deal with difficult problems instead of punishing the person who brings one to them.

Was it really too complicated to move OP to a different manager and see whether the problem followed? Hard to know if they couldn’t figure that out or simply couldn’t be bothered.

@re The problem is that Employee Relations may investigate, but the business still gets the final say. So how neutral can the process really be when the leadership chain itself is part of the concern? That’s exactly why people lose confidence in the internal process. A truly independent review needs to sit outside that chain and have actual authority to act.

If employees are disciplined, lose compensation, or have their careers restricted after raising concerns like OP, the answer cannot be “keep quiet and move on.” The answer has to be real scrutiny and accountability. A company that cares about trust, integrity, and reputation should want the truth examined, even when that truth is uncomfortable. Otherwise, they risk a deeper erosion of trust, accountability, and culture.