Women Bank Execs Eased Out?

December 3, 1998 / 12:55 PM EST / AP

Women executives at BankAmerica are having trouble with the recent mega-merger with North Carolina's NationsBank. Apparently, the top 10 female executives of the former Bank of America have either been demoted or resigned, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Six of the 10 resigned after their assignments were given to NationsBank executives and several were offered lower-ranking positions with less authority, the newspaper said Wednesday, citing interviews with current and former employees.

The merged bank is the parent of Seattle-based Seafirst bank.

The women spoke to the newspaper on the condition that they not be identified. Some said the terms of their severance packages prevented them from speaking publicly.

"I don't think they had any intention of having me in a position of influence," said one senior BankAmerica woman who recently left the bank. "They harbor a feeling about women that they should have bumblebees on their shoulders and be playing tennis at the club."

Hugh McColl

Several female employees told the newspaper said that they were insulted when NationsBank Chairman and Chief Executive Hugh McColl distributed a videotape to employees in which he boasted of having "the best men in banking."

Kathleen Burke, the head of human resources and one of the former Bank of America's top-ranking women, resigned when her job went to NationsBank personnel chief Chuck Cooley.

Among the others who resigned were:

Group Executive Vice President Christine Garvey, head of commercial real estate lending, who was replaced by NationsBank's Bill Hodges.
Group Executive Vice President Barbara Rambo, whose job as head of lending to midsize companies was eliminated.
Kathryn Munro, head of Bank of America's Southwest region, who was replaced by NationsBank's Tim Arnoult.

Four other top female executives took jobs with less authority for the new bank, headquartered in North Carolina.

The new BankAmerica maintains the women left for personal reasons, not because of pressure.

"Each of the women made a decision based on a combination of personal and professional factors," said Lorraine Stimmel, executive vice president responsible for diversity programs at the combined bank and herself a manager at the former Bank of America. "Many of the female executives were offered what I would consider important positions in the new company."

The women with reduced authority were not demoted, but hold important positions in a larger and more powerful bank, Stimmel said.

Spokeswoman Melba Spencer said the few women speaking anonymously did not represent the feelings of most women at the bank.

Some BankAmerica emplyees claim that many men also lost jobs to NationsBank executives. In addition, the merger resulted in generous severance packages, giving both male and female executives incentive to leave.

Before the merger, San Francisco-based Bank of America had a long history of promoting women. By 1998, 11 of the bank's top 45 executives were female.

"BofA has been a pioneer," said Anne Golden, president of the Financial Women's Association, which represents about 250 female financial services executives in San Francisco.

Catalyst, a New York nonprofit group that promotes women in business, found that two of the old Bank of America's top 14 officers, or 14.3 percent, were women, compared with none out of six for NationsBank.

Other female executives in the San Francisco Bay area said they were concerned by the revelation.

"Eliminating that whole group just sends a tremendously negative message," said Beth Parker of the public-interest law firm Equal Rights Advocates.