Sberbank decided not to fire an employee accused of harassment

Sberbank has completed an investigation into two employees accused of harassment and found no grounds for terminating employment with one of them, the Sberbank press service told The Bell. The second employee resigned of his own free will.

What's happened

On July 14, Sberbank announced that it had begun an internal audit after reports on social networks of harassment by bank employees. The accusations concerned the SMM manager Ruslan Gafarov (formally employed in a subsidiary of S-Marketing) and the bank's project manager Sergei Minenko.

Soon Gafarov announced that he was leaving the company of his own free will. Minenko denied the accusations . According to him, when the check began, he himself demanded to check himself on a polygraph - and he confirmed that Minenko was not lying. Minenko did not answer clarifying questions from The Bell.

“Further proceedings in this case, if they follow, are within the competence of law enforcement agencies and the judiciary,” the Sberbank press service said.

Find out more

The reaction of Sberbank is indicative: the accusations did not come from colleagues, and the actions described in them did not occur in the office. A few years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine verification in such a case. The Bell studied how the attitude of Russian companies and their employees towards the problem of harassment and sexual harassment is changing. Conclusions are here .