"I was sexually harassed in a bank. I wish I never reported it"

I have had a long career in the banking industry, but as an attractive woman it has not been easy. Like Stacey Macken, I have been subject to discrimination. I have also been subject to sexual harassment. Like Stacey, I complained – but I now wish I hadn’t.

I filed the complaints about my treatment in 2020. They were in relation to events that had happened a few years previously and that resulted in me leaving the job I loved. Lockdown gave me an opportunity to reconsider what had happened. All the bad emotions and memories attached to the role came flooding back, and I had time to consider how badly the episode had derailed my career, and how I’ve been impacted both financially and emotionally.

I decided to complain without really thinking through the implications of doing so. I contacted a former colleague in the American office and told him what had happened, and he went to HR on my behalf. A process began, but it quickly became incredibly stressful and emotional, and after further consideration I decided not to participate.

I am now in an even worse situation than before. I have had no resolution of the issues that unbalanced my banking career, and I am worried that my reputation has been ruined in the industry. I was invited for an interview in New York recently, but the recruiter cancelled at the last moment, and I fear it was because my complaint has become widely known. I certainly can’t apply for roles in other divisions of the bank I had the issue with, even though I miss working there daily. – It wasn’t the bank as a whole that was the problem, it was four people in the broader team. Their actions forced me out of my job, and now I’m not clear what to do next.

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