By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Citigroup was sued on Monday by a former managing director who said she was forced out after being sexually harassed by Andy Sieg, who oversees the bank’s wealth management unit and is one of the bank’s top executives.
In a complaint filed 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 quickly began a “campaign of unrelenting and egregious sexual harassment, manipulation, and grooming.”
She said 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.
Citigroup said in a statement: “This lawsuit has absolutely no merit and we will demonstrate that through the legal process.”
Sieg is not a defendant. Lawyers for Carreon did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.
BANK DEFENDING AGAINST OTHER HARASSMENT CLAIMS
Carreon is seeking unspecified damages for alleged racial discrimination under federal law, and racial and sexual discrimination under New York state and city laws.
Bloomberg News and the Financial Times reported last year on allegations that Sieg intimidated and sidelined employees, with Bloomberg saying men as well as women raised concerns about his conduct.
Sieg did not respond to requests for comment for Bloomberg’s article and declined to comment for the Financial Times’ article.
Citigroup is the third largest U.S. bank by assets and the largest led by a woman. Sieg is one of Chief Executive Jane Fraser’s highest-profile hires.
The bank is also defending against a lawsuit by another managing director, Ardith Lindsey, who sued over a different supervisor’s alleged violent threats and Citigroup’s alleged “pervasive” culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
TREATED ‘MUCH DIFFERENTLY’ FROM MEN
In her complaint, Carreon said Sieg treated her “much differently” from her male colleagues, calling and texting her multiple times a week and sharing confidential information.
She said Sieg soon began insisting she sit close to him at meetings, and insinuating to others that they had an intimate relationship.
Carreon said Sieg also told two male colleagues in her presence that he and she shared a “secret song,” by the rock band Kings of Leon, causing the room to fall silent.
According to the complaint, Sieg stopped talking with Carreon in May 2024, when she learned that human resources had been investigating false allegations that she was a bully and advanced her career because she had “special access” to Sieg.
“Carreon understood from experience that HR would circle the wagons to protect the men of Citi,” the complaint said. “Citi’s takedown was successful.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Tatiana Bautzer in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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