Longtime leaders at RBC’s prominent Bay Street wealth management arm appear to be moving quietly down the ladder amid an ongoing lawsuit by a former employee that accuses the bank of fostering a misogynistic and unhealthy workplace culture.
Mike Weber has been vice-president and branch director at RBC’s wealth management division for decades, since 1983. But his title changed in November 2021. According to his LinkedIn page, as of November he is now portfolio manager and senior investment adviser — the very position of those he managed for almost 40 years.
Weber has been replaced as branch director by Steve Harrop, who up until last fall was a vice-president and branch manager in Newmarket, according to his LinkedIn page.
Weber was named in a lawsuit in 2018 by former RBC employee Mihaela Constantinescu, who allegedly turned a blind eye to sexist behavior by men at his branch; she described the branch as a “boys’ club.”
Constantinescu believes Weber’s quiet move from long-time branch director to investment adviser is a demotion.
“This move is unheard of,” she said. “It was a partial validation of what I have been saying about his conduct of him.”
Around the same time, Gary MacDonald, who had been an RBC regional director for Metro Toronto (including the wealth management division) for more than two decades, became a portfolio manager. His LinkedIn page of him says he decided to step down from the role so he could focus more on his clients of him.
Several sources familiar with RBC’s wealth management arm said the move by Weber would almost certainly be seen by others in the industry as a demotion or a downward move, given his tenure with the company and proximity to retirement.
RBC spokesperson Greg Skinner did not deny the moves by Weber and MacDonald but said RBC cannot provide information on employees’ career decisions for privacy reasons. Skinner responded on behalf of the two men, who did not reply to requests from the Star.
Skinner said last year, Constantinescu agreed to dismiss her claims against the individual defendants, meaning the lawsuit is now only against RBC Dominion Securities.
Constantinescu confirmed this, and said it “changes nothing.”
“My claim against RBC remains intact, but now RBC bears the sole responsibility for the conduct of the persons named” in the lawsuit, she said in an email. She pointed to the moves by Weber and MacDonald as proof that her claims have merit, and asked whether the uppermost leaders at the bank will be held accountable.
Weber joined the team of Alan O’Hanlon, also a portfolio manager and senior investment adviser. His bio of him on the team page skims over the fact that most of his time at RBC has been as branch director; it describes him joining Pitfield Mackay Ross as an investment adviser in 1983, which was acquired by RBC a year later.
“During his tenure, he has been involved in the leadership of our national branch network,” reads Weber’s bio.
A former RBC employee who worked on the 39th floor during Weber’s reign described sexist and demeaning comments by men she worked with. She said Weber enabled and even participated in this behaviour.
Another former employee described herself and other women being harassed and humiliated by men at the office with little to no consequences from human resources.
“It wasn’t rare, the way I was treated,” she said.
RBC did not comment specifically on the former employees’ allegations, but has previously denied such claims about the bank’s workplace culture.
In an emailed statement, Skinner said the bank is “well known for fostering a culture of integrity, inclusion, and mutual respect, based on its values and Code of Conduct. We are confident that the facts presented through the legal process will establish that Ms. Constantinescu’s allegations are without merit.”
RBC strongly denied the allegations in Constantinescu’s lawsuit, which she filed after being terminated in March 2018. A month earlier, she had complained about a male colleague’s inappropriate conduct, leading to that person’s dismissal.
After she was let go, she sued the bank for wrongful dismissal, alleging a sexist culture at the lucrative wealth management division on the 39th floor of Royal Bank Plaza, perpetuated by leaders like Weber.
The lawsuit also alleges that a male colleague was given a promotion over her despite her having better job performance, which RBC denies.
The bank, in turn, accused Constantinescu of sending confidential information to a personal email address, which she says was common practice. That was one reason RBC cited for its decision to let Constantinescu go. The bank also cited an outburst of anger she displayed during the investigation process and her decision de ella to listen to a recorded call between two RBC employees, which Constantinescu said was not prohibited.
Her lawsuit claims that her colleague’s promotion was part of a conspiracy to get rid of her, a claim RBC denied.
Constantinescu said she is not giving up on her ongoing lawsuit, which is currently at the pretrial stage.
“RBC turns a blind eye to bad behaviour,” she said. “People are afraid for a reason.”
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