IT’S HANKY BANKY
Suit alleges debauchery at West Coast firm
Banc of California? More like Hotel California.
A top exec at the West Coast bank turned its headquarters into a den of iniquity, having sex with junior employees in his office, corralling workers for outings to strip clubs and indulging in drugs on the premises, according to an explosive lawsuit.
That’s on top of allegations that the bank screwed employees out of their bonuses last year, and then improperly shifted the funds to cook this year’s books, according to the suit filed this week by Heather Endresen, a former managing director at the bank.
In the 24-page complaint, Endresen alleges that Executive Vice President and Interim CFO Francisco Turner transformed the bank’s Irvine, Calif., offices into a sleazy playpen, coercing young female employees into having sex while also encouraging the bank’s workers to do drugs in the office.
As for the late-night sessions at strip clubs, they were fueled by funds taken from the company’s coffers, according to the suit filed in California state court.
When she complained, Endresen says Mike Urtel, the head of human resources, blew off her concerns, saying they were “akin to rumor or gossip,” the suit says.
One lawyer at the publicly traded bank, which operates 34 branches and has a $1 billion market cap, likewise yawned at the salacious shenanigans, court papers indicate.
“Shockingly,” Counsel Manisha Merchant “ex- plained that the company does not have a policy prohibiting employees from engaging in sexual activity in the workplace, or a policy against using corporate funds to pay for strip clubs,” according to the complaint.
The bad behavior went all the way to the top, according to the suit. When Endresen complained to CEO Doug Bowers, the boss admitted the company had received a similar complaint about Turner from another employee and that it had tapped an independent investigator.
Nevertheless, Bowers broke a spoken promise to extend Endresen’s family health insurance for six months after she left the bank, prompting a costly and stressful health crisis for her son, the suit says.
When Endresen searched for a new job, Bowers “lied to Ms. Edresen’s prospective employers about the quality of her work and her loan success rates,” according to the complaint.
“We believe the action has no merit, and we intend to defend against the claims vigorously,” a Banc of California spokesman told The Post.
“The record should be clear, however, that we treat all matters of compliance with the utmost seriousness and any suggestion otherwise is categorically wrong. We encourage all employees to raise any area of concern and we investigate all claims thoroughly.”
Endresen alleged the bank took $7.8 million in 2016 bonuses and moved them to the next quarter, improperly putting that money under liabilities. Endresen alleged Turner threatened her “professional reputation” when she raised the accounting irregularities.
Turner resigned from the bank in June, getting a $2.75 million payout and continued health-care coverage for 18 months, public filings show.
Forbes recognized Banc of California as one of the 100 Best Banks in America in 2017.