A former employee of JPMorgan Chase who filed an anonymous lawsuit accusing a female executive of sexual harassment and abuse has been identified by several insiders, according to the Daily Mail.
Chirayu Rana, 35, has leveled accusations against Lorna Hajdini, a 37-year-old executive director at JPMorgan Chase, alleging that she coerced him into “non-consensual and humiliating sex acts” over a period of several months while they both worked in the bank’s Leveraged Finance division. These claims were detailed in a lawsuit filed in New York on Monday.
In his lawsuit, Rana made several alarming allegations, stating that Hajdini drugged him with substances like ‘roofies’ and Viagra on multiple occasions. He also claimed that she threatened to damage his career if he resisted her advances.
Rana initially filed the lawsuit under the pseudonym John Doe, stating the need to protect his identity and ensure the safety of his family after receiving threats.
Despite his efforts to remain anonymous, several insiders from JPMorgan have identified Rana as the plaintiff. These insiders have also contested his allegations, with some suggesting that the lawsuit is a fabrication resulting from a breakdown in workplace dynamics.
One source compared Rana’s allegations to “fanfiction,” asserting that they were concocted as tensions within the workplace escalated.
Two other sources said they were skeptical of the claims and expressed sympathy for Hajdini amid the scrutiny she now faces.
In a statement issued through her lawyers, Hajdini denied any wrongdoing. ‘She never engaged in any inappropriate conduct with this individual of any kind and has never even been to the location where the alleged sexual assault supposedly took place,’ her lawyer told the New York Post.
Chirayu Rana, 35, has been unmasked as the accuser behind Monday’s bombshell JPMorgan lawsuit, accusing an executive director of sexual harassment and abuse
Lorna Hajdini, 37, an executive director in JPMorgan Chase’s Leveraged Finance division, fiercely denied Rana’s claims in a statement issued through her attorney
The Daily Mail reached out to Hajdini for comment, and she directed the request to JPMorgan. A company spokesperson told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that an internal investigation found no evidence to support the allegations.
‘We don’t believe there’s any merit to these claims,’ the spokesperson said. ‘While numerous employees cooperated with the investigation, the complainant refused to participate and has declined to provide facts that would be central to support his allegations.’
Speaking on Wednesday evening, Rana’s attorney, Daniel J. Kaiser, maintained that his client was a victim of ‘horrific sexual abuse’ and therefore reserved the right to file his allegations anonymously.
‘As to Ms. Hajdini’s predictable denials, I look forward to discovery and, in particular, her deposition,’ said Kaiser. ‘The abuse occurred and we will prove it.’
In prior remarks, Kaiser described his client’s allegations as ‘horrendous and disturbing’ and said Rana had been left devastated personally and professionally by the treatment he was allegedly subjected to.
The case has since been temporarily withdrawn from the New York County Supreme Court docket to allow for corrections, according to court records.
Kaiser explained the complaint disappeared from the docket because, to maintain a John Doe designation, you must make a motion along with the court filing seeking the court’s permission, which he plans to do on Friday.
The case is unfolding at a difficult moment for JPMorgan Chase, which has faced a series of high-profile challenges in recent weeks, including separate misconduct allegations involving a former executive, looming layoffs and costly legal settlements.
Insiders at America’s biggest bank describe a ‘strange’ atmosphere inside its gleaming 60-story skyscraper in midtown Manhattan, where staff are bypassing the company’s monitored internal messaging systems to swap details of the explosive allegations on private apps.
‘Everyone’s wondering what Jamie thinks,’ one senior staffer told the Daily Mail, referring to CEO Jamie Dimon, who has separately warned of a looming credit crunch, high inflation, and weak growth threatening the business in the months ahead.
Rana, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, accused Lorna Hajdini, an executive director in the bank’s leveraged finance team, of months of escalating sexual harassment, abuse, and coercion beginning in 2024.
The lawsuit also accuses JPMorgan Chase of enabling the alleged abuse and retaliating against the banker after he reported it
The complaint claims Hajdini subjected Rana to explicit propositions, racial slurs targeting him and his wife, and repeated threats tied to his career and promotion prospects. The alleged abuse, according to the filing, escalated into sexual assault.
The claims have been widely debated by staff at JPMorgan. ‘No one knows if it’s true,’ said one Manhattan employee who works in a different part of the company.
‘Lorna came into work today,’ they added, suggesting some skepticism about the allegations.
‘Some of the comments sounded like they were written by a man. I don’t know if a female would speak like that.’
Another staffer noted that the women on the leveraged finance team – a highly profitable division that arranges large loans for already heavily indebted companies – had a reputation for being ‘fierce.’
Rana also claims in the lawsuit that Hajdini used her senior position to monitor and control him, including allegedly accessing his personal bank account to track his movements.
When he reported the alleged abuse to the bank, he says he was placed on involuntary leave, locked out of company systems, and subjected to retaliation that damaged his professional reputation and career prospects, the complaint says.
The lawsuit comes hard on the heels of a Financial Times investigation into Viswas Raghavan, currently head of banking at Citigroup, who faced a string of misconduct allegations during his 23-year tenure at JPMorgan.
Those reported allegations paint a picture of a serial bully whose behavior was considered extreme even by the notoriously tough standards of Wall Street.
The FT reported that Raghavan allegedly called employees ‘a waste of calories,’ ‘ignorant,’ and ‘inadequate,’ according to people familiar with his conduct and internal bank records.
In one reported incident that left colleagues stunned, he allegedly told a group of junior bankers on their very first day at the firm a story about a woman he had once found attractive – before remarking that ‘now, she was fat.’
Complaints were filed, but Raghavan later denied the remarks when HR got involved, the report said.
Viswas Raghavan allegedly called employees ‘a waste of calories,’ ‘ignorant,’ and ‘inadequate,’ according to an FT report
‘Everyone’s wondering what Jamie thinks,’ said one senior staffer, referring to CEO Jamie Dimon
Hajdini’s accuser alleges in his complaint that she admitted to drugging him without his knowledge on multiple occasions and once berated him as he cried while she performed oral sex on him; JP Morgan has denied the claims
His conduct was the subject of multiple internal reviews over the years, and at one point JPMorgan cut his pay over behavioral issues, according to the FT.
By February 2024, bank leadership had reportedly seen enough – telling him bluntly that he had ‘no long-term future’ at the firm. He joined Citigroup four months later.
Citigroup in a statement to the Daily Mail called the allegations ‘anonymous smears’ and praised Raghavan as a ‘proven leader with a well-earned track record for driving results.’
A round of layoffs expected to affect around 300 staff in Jersey City and San Francisco is adding to the anxiety at JPMorgan, with employees worldwide nervously eyeing Dimon’s much-discussed plans for the ‘huge redeployment’ of staff as automation reshapes the workforce.
The Daily Mail approached JPMorgan for comment on all the various allegations.
