"My managing director is a sociopathic bully with a possible drug issue"

I am writing here because I would like advice and help from other people in the industry.

I work for a major US bank in the Americas. The man who heads the division in my country is incredibly difficult to work for, but the bank seems to turn a blind eye to this. 

A lot of us feel very threatened by him but we are fearful of reporting anything in case of retaliation.

We appreciate that banking is a high energy and sometimes aggressive industry, but this goes beyond the bounds of normality. He doesn't just cross the line; he seems to reside in a territory bordering on psychopathy, displaying conduct that is both unethical and immoral.

It's not uncommon for him to transfer his personal frustrations onto people at work. In moments of bad mood, the intensity of his harassment and his need to humiliate us are amplified. Employees are often left in tears during and after private conversations initiated by him. He often makes threats to fire people and will make a public spectacle of those he doesn't like.   

He has his favorites. They tend to be people similar to him. If you're gay, female, or someone he doesn't feel comfortable with, he behave very differently. He will be harsh.

We think he may have a drug problem due to the intensity of some of his outbursts. Sometimes he can be very threatening and aggressive.

We should be able to highlight these issues using the 360 degree feedback system at appraisal time. We can't because he forces us to rank him highly by threatening us all if he is ranked low.

His behavior is having serious negative effects; several people on the team are developing psychological issues and the bank is a very toxic and harmful place to be.

We appreciate that the best thing is to walk away but many of us spent years working to get these jobs and there are few alternatives in this market. Does anyone have advice?

Leo Orellana is a pseudonym 

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