Lanan Nguyen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Citigroup’s managing director said the bank failed to protect her from violent threats and abuse by an executive because of its “pervasive” culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, according to an amended legal document released on Monday.
Ardith Lindsay, who worked as head of electronic sales in the Americas, added details to her November lawsuit, outlining threats from Mani Singh, who once headed the bank’s cash execution services division in North American markets. He retired in November 2022.
Lindsay said that after she ended their relationship in October 2022, Singh began five days of non-stop phone calls and text messages filled with expletives such as “I’m going to set you on fire” and “Kids, no kids I’m not giving ” fucking ()plan to burn it all down.”
Lindsay said Singh subjected her to increasingly erratic violence for years, sometimes fueled by alcohol or drugs, including alleged threats to harm her and her family and ruin her career if she resisted his advances.
The bank “chose to ignore numerous red flags about Singh’s behavior,” Lindsey said. Instead, it “promoted him while not protecting Lindsay and many other women.”
According to her, Lindsay is on leave from the bank.
Citigroup was not immediately available for comment. Singh did not immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
In November, Citigroup said it would defend itself against Lindsay’s claims.
“No one should ever be discriminated against or harassed in the workplace,” the third-largest US bank said at the time.
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He called the behavior detailed in the original document “deplorable” but noted that the relationship Lindsay described differed significantly from her previous account.
An attorney who represented Singh in a separate lawsuit did not respond to requests for comment in November.
Lindsay also alleged that she was assaulted by a senior manager who forcibly kissed her several months after she joined the bank at age 24 in 2007.
“Citi, particularly in its equities division, is a place where sexual harassment and gender discrimination are rampant and egregious,” Lindsay said in an amended complaint detailing additional allegations.
She alleged that some male bankers frequented strip clubs, drank alcohol to excess, made sexual comments to female colleagues or used cocaine in the office.
Lindsay named several senior Citigroup executives who allegedly engaged in discrimination or sexual harassment, and also named the positions of others who were involved in sexual relationships with direct reports or junior employees.
Unnamed female employees who raised their concerns with managers and human resources staff were retaliated against or left the bank, Lindsay said.
She also alleged that Citigroup did not respond to her concerns until she filed her lawsuit, nearly a year after she reported Singh’s text messages.
When a senior manager took her claim to co-workers, she said, he tried to fire Lindsay and discredit her as a troublemaker.
The bank’s head of markets Andy Morton sent out a memo asking staff to speak up if they observed inappropriate behavior, Reuters reported in November. The company also sent women in the markets department a survey about workplace conditions, Lindsey said.
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According to the complaint, Lindsey’s doctors diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and memory loss, which left her unable to work.
The lawsuit comes after Wall Street banks spent years trying to diversify their ranks and shed their boys’ club image.
Wells Fargo was accused of gender discrimination earlier this month in a lawsuit by a bond saleswoman who said the bank denied pay and promotions to men and tolerated an “unapologetically sexist” workplace.
Last year, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $215 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging widespread bias against women in pay and promotions, ending one of the highest-profile lawsuits alleging unequal treatment of women on Wall Street. .
The case is Lindsey v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 23-10166.