One of the most influential companies in the mortgage industry is the focus of a news report claiming that it operates a corporate culture that is toxic to women and people of color.
The Bloomberg article “Employees Call Out Locker-Room Culture at Phoenix Suns Owner’s Company” takes aim at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), whose founder and CEO Mat Ishbia is also the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.
“More than two dozen people who have worked at Ishbia’s United Wholesale Mortgage in recent years described a high-pressure locker-room environment at the company’s Pontiac, Michigan, offices,” said the Bloomberg article. “Several said some underwriting managers treated Black workers differently from White employees. Others said leering and sexually offensive remarks were common among sales staff. Most asked not to be named citing fear of reprisals.”
The article stated five Black employees complained about being held to a different standard than their White colleagues.
“I couldn’t count on both hands the amount of times my attitude came up,” said one employee, who was not identified in the article. “I was always ‘coached’ on making sure I wasn’t aggressive.”
Bloomberg also reported the UWM workplace was pockmarked with narcotics usage.
“More than half a dozen sales employees said they encountered drugs on campus,” the article insisted. “One recalled arriving at 7 a.m. one day in 2019 to find a manager using cocaine in the bathroom. Another recalled seeing two or more employees enter the same stall on a handful of occasions, before he stopped taking notice.”
Despite being cited in the article’s headline and featured in a photograph from a Suns game, Ishbia is not identified in the article as being an instigator of hostile or unprofessional behavior at his company.
UWM Chief Marketing Office Sarah DeCiantis condemned the Bloomberg coverage, issuing a statement that said “any attempt to portray negative culture is false and misleading”
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