A former banker from JPMorgan Chase has made headlines after rejecting a $1 million settlement in a lawsuit against his female supervisor, according to reports.
Chirayu Rana, aged 35, has filed a lawsuit against Lorna Hajdini, 37, alleging she abused her authority to subject him to sexual and racial misconduct, and even claims she drugged him.
Hajdini has denied all accusations, and an internal probe by JPMorgan Chase concluded there was no evidence supporting the claims against her.
Sources familiar with the matter, as cited by the Wall Street Journal, revealed that Rana turned down a $1 million offer from the bank—an amount equivalent to two years of his salary—to resolve the lawsuit. Instead, he is reportedly seeking $11.7 million for a settlement.
Insiders suggest the bank was eager to settle to prevent the media frenzy that has since surrounded the lawsuit, which gained widespread attention after the Daily Mail’s report last week.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan commented, “We sought to reach an agreement to avoid the time and expense of litigation and to support an employee who was facing the very reputational harm now being witnessed.”
‘We continue to believe these allegations have no merit and new information raised as a result of the public filing only reinforces that conclusion.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the bank for further comment.
EX-JPMorgan Chase banker Chirayu Rana, 35, who sued his female boss alleging she sexually harassed him, turned down a $1 million settlement from the company, reports say
Lorna Hajdini, an executive director in JPMorgan Chase’s leveraged finance division, is accused in a lawsuit of coercing a junior banker into ‘non-consensual and humiliating sex acts’. She denies the allegations
News of the alleged settlement offer came after Rana re-filed his lawsuit on Monday with updated claims, including alleging that Hajdini – an executive director in JPMC’s Leveraged Finance division – tried to coerce him into a threesome and threatened his career if he did not comply.
Hajdini was accused in the filing of coercing Rana into ‘non-consensual and humiliating sex acts’ over several months, despite his pleas for her to stop.
He said in the court filings that Hajdini, whom he also claims subjected him to racist abuse, allegedly threatened to ruin his career when he refused her advances – which included once allegedly turning up at his apartment and demanding sex.
The lawsuit also accuses JPMC of enabling the alleged abuse and retaliating against the banker after he reported it, claiming the firm placed him on involuntary leave, destroyed his reputation and allowed threats against him to continue while Hajdini and others went unpunished.
A spokesman for JPMC said a thorough internal investigation found no evidence to support Rana’s accusations.
‘Following an investigation, we don’t believe there’s any merit to these claims,’ said the representative. ‘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.’
According to Rana’s complaint, Hajdini’s alleged abuse started almost immediately after the pair began working together in the spring of 2024.
Rana claimed the alleged abuse began a few months after he joined as a senior VP and director in March 2024
Sources have questioned the lawsuit’s accusations and expressed sympathy for Hajdini on account of the public scrutiny she’s been facing and the potential damage to her reputation
Rana said he joined as a senior VP and director in March 2024 and Hajdini was appointed to lead the team the following month.
While Rana claims he continued to resist her advances, Hajdini allegedly threatened professional retribution, telling him if he wanted to be promoted to executive director, he would need to start ‘pleasing’ her, according to the lawsuit
Eventually, Rana claims the alleged harassment escalated into sexual assault, which Hajdini denies.
After Rana initially filed his lawsuit last week, the filing was taken off the court docket before his attorneys re-filed the action with updated allegations, including two unnamed witnesses who claimed they saw Rana and the executive together.
In a statement issued through her lawyers, Hajdini has vehemently 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,’ said her lawyer.
In the days since Rana’s lawsuit circulated social media, several JPMorgan colleagues have rushed to Hajdini’s defense.
‘He has tarnished her with a complete fabrication,’ said one.
However, the alleged victim is sticking to his guns. Rana’s lawyer insists his client was a victim of ‘horrific sexual abuse’ and therefore reserved the right to file his allegations anonymously.
Rana, above with his parents, filed the lawsuit anonymously on the grounds that he and his family had received threats, but has since been identified by numerous bank sources
‘As to Ms Hajdini’s predictable denials, I look forward to discovery and, in particular, her deposition,’ said his lawyer, Daniel Kaiser. ‘The abuse occurred and we will prove it.’
He told the Daily Mail that the lawsuit was removed from court records last Thursday because it hadn’t been submitted with the proper papers and was returned to his office to be amended.
On Monday, it was refiled along with two sworn witness statements. The names of the witnesses, along with Rana’s, have been redacted – for their own protection, says Rana – although they have been revealed to the parties in the case.
One alleged witness said in their statement that they were staying at an apartment with Rana in September 2024 when they were woken in the night by a woman who was ‘clearly intoxicated and speaking loudly’. Rana later identified the woman as Ms Hajdini, according to the statement.
‘A short while later, I was awoken by Ms Hajdini, who was completely naked,’ the witness wrote. ‘Ms Hajdini sat on the couch and lit a cigarette. She then asked me to come to the bedroom with her and “join them”. I told her no. She said, “Come join, come join”. I again told her no.’
The witness said Hajdini then told them, ‘You know, I own [Rana], so you’d better come join.’
They again refused, and Hajdini returned to the bedroom and closed the door, according to the filing.
From inside, the witness said they heard arguing, with Rana ‘loudly pleading’ with Hajdini ‘to stop, and to leave’.
JPMorgan Chase in New York strongly denies all the claims against it. Rana alleged a culture within his team that was driven by racism and antipathy towards Asians
‘It became quiet. Then, sometime later, [Hajdini] came out of the bedroom and left the apartment,’ the witness said in the filing.
The second alleged witness said Rana had told him in mid-2024 that a woman in the office was ‘making his life hell’ and that he later saw Hajdini kissing Rana’s neck and grabbing him and that he appeared uncomfortable.
Additional new exhibits include an affidavit in which Rana says he was diagnosed with PTSD in October 2025, which he attributes to the alleged assaults, plus a letter from his counselor confirming he had been treated for PTSD.
The Daily Mail has contacted Kaiser for comment on reports that his client turned down a $1 million settlement.
