A Citigroup executive suing the bank for sexual harassment has slammed the Jane Fraser-led lender’s investigations unit as “HR’s internal hit squad,” according to a report.
Ardith Lindsey made the bombshell claims in an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday, alleging that the Citi Security and Investigative Services (CSIS) — staffed with ex-FBI agents and prosecutors — twisted her confidential statements to be used against her after she reported death threats from a supervisor.
“Citi’s CSIS operates as HR’s internal hit squad, highly trained to protect the firm at employees’ expense,” the banker was quoted as saying by the FT.
The British newspaper reported that current and former employees have echoed her concerns, saying CSIS probes lead to retaliation or forced exits when staffers raise misconduct flags.
A Citi spokesperson said the lender “takes seriously our responsibility to look into concerns raised about conduct within the bank. These situations are inherently challenging for those involved, and we approach them with professionalism, integrity, and empathy.”
“Our Security and Investigative Services team consists of highly experienced professionals whose responsibilities include supporting Citi disaster response efforts, protection for colleagues around the world, and looking into certain concerns about colleague behaviour along a clearly laid-out set of guidelines,” they added.
Lindsey’s 2023 lawsuit accuses Citi of fostering a “pervasive” culture and “notoriously hostile” environment of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in its equities division.
The saga underscores Wall Street’s post-#MeToo reckoning, with Lindsey’s lawsuit drawing further scrutiny of Citi’s workplace environment.
She detailed years of abuse from Mani Singh, her former boss in Citi’s equities team, who resigned in November 2022 and is no longer registered with any financial firm, according to his profile on FINRA, a US financial services watchdog.
Lindsey alleged that he subjected her to many years of his increasingly volatile misbehavior, sometimes fueled by alcohol or drugs, including alleged threats to destroy her career and reputation if she resisted his advances.
After ending their relationship, Singh allegedly texted her threats like “going to set you on fire” and “Your children will have no future with [a] S–t like you,” according to her complaint. He is not a defendant in the case.
Four employees, speaking on condition of anonymity with the British outlet, described being grilled by CSIS on sensitive issues like discrimination and assault, with three saying it backfired.
Two flagged compliance lapses, only to face swift probes or firings. One was terminated a day after her interview; another endured a baseless inquiry into a colleague relationship, believing it was payback.
“It’s always two on one, two CSIS people against one individual,” said one former Citi employee, who was quoted by the Financial Times. “All it says is, ‘We’re meeting with you about a confidential matter. Please do not disclose to anyone, even your manager.’”
In Lindsey’s case, Citi cited her statements to defend itself publicly and legally, claiming she described the relationship as consensual.
Lindsey, a 15-year veteran of the firm who rose through the ranks to managing director, also alleged an early assault by a senior manager who forcibly kissed her at age 24.
She said her interview came just days after she reported the threats to human resources in November 2022, according to the court filings.
Lindsey also alleged that her employer rejected her requests for counsel during her CSIS interview or a meeting summary afterward.
Citi suspended Singh within hours of Lindsey’s report of his allegedly abusive behavior. He would resign later that month.
Her lawsuit prompted Citi’s markets head Andy Morton to send a company-wide memo that urged all staff to speak up:
“No colleague should ever be discriminated against or harassed,” he wrote in the November 2023 missive.
But earlier this year, a former managing director said she was forced out after being sexually harassed by top Citi executive Andy Sieg, who oversees the bank’s wealth management unit and is one of the bank’s top executives.
In a complaint filed in January in Manhattan federal court, Julia Carreon, who was global head of platform and experiences, said Sieg initially supported her and helped her obtain a promotion soon after starting his job in October 2023.
But he quickly began a “campaign of unrelenting and egregious sexual harassment, manipulation, and grooming.” Both Citi and Sieg have strongly denied the allegations.
Echoing Lindsey’s claims, she alleged that the bank’s “weaponized” human resources department then began its own campaign to force her out, “consistent with HR’s perpetuating Citi’s decades-long history of bias and harassment against women,” until she left in June 2024.
But the bank hit back in a later legal filing, stating that Carreon “voluntarily resigned from Citi to pursue a new venture” and that repeatedly praised Sieg’s management style in emails.
“Andy’s leadership is the best thing to happen to this place,” the filing quotes an email from Carreon as saying.
The Citi spokesperson told The Post: “This lawsuit has absolutely no merit and we will demonstrate that through the legal process.”
Citigroup is the third-largest US bank by assets and the largest led by a woman. Sieg is one of chief executive Jane Fraser’s highest-profile hires
Fraser, in the top job since March 2021, is leading an overhaul of the lender with a view to boosting profits and a “high-performance environment” as part of her strategy to transform, simplify, and modernize the bank.
Credit: Source link
