An employee at JPMorgan Chase filed a lawsuit against one of the bank’s executives, according to The Daily Mail. The complaint states that Lorna Hajdini, the executive director of the firm responsible for leveraging finance, sexually assaulted, racially harassed, and threatened the plaintiff’s job security over six months, starting in spring 2024.
The complaint is filed anonymously under the name John Doe. It indicates that Hajdini raped the employee by forcing him to engage in unwanted sexual acts, possibly drugging him.
The complaint states that the harassment began shortly after the employee started interacting with Hajdini, with the first reported incident occurring in early May 2024. The complaint describes how Hajdini inappropriately touched the plaintiff at his desk and made a sexual comment after knowing he had played basketball in college.
“Oh, you did play basketball in college? … I love basketball players… they get me so wet,” reads the quote according to the filing.
The plaintiff alleged that Hajdini verbally and physically threatened him, making clear that his career at the company was on the line unless he met her sexual demands.
According to the lawsuit, when he resisted, Hajdini threatened him explicitly.
“If you don’t fk me soon, I’m going to ruin you… never forget, I fking own you,” the filing quotes Hajdini saying.
The complaint indicates that the plaintiff had been racially harassed as well by Hajdini. This is particularly true given that he is identified in the lawsuit as being Arab and South Asian. For instance, the plaintiff alleged that on one particular day, she mentioned,
“Birthday BJ for the brown boy? My little brown boy.”
The plaintiff alleged that in the summer of 2024, Hajdini used the opportunity of his pending year-end promotion to threaten him sexually.
“You’re gonna need to earn it, my little Arab boy toy,” she allegedly told him.
According to the complaint, Hajdini framed the situation as something that would benefit his future and career at the firm.
“Do you want to get promoted at year end or not? Do you want a future at JPMorgan? It’s that simple. I don’t know why you’re fighting this,” she quoted from the filing.
Moreover, the filing indicates that the plaintiff complied with her wishes out of fear of retaliation and humiliation.
The complaint shows that the threats continued until late September 2024 and became even more explicit.
In response, JPMorgan Chase stated that, after a thorough investigation, it found no basis for the allegations.
“Following an investigation, we don’t believe there’s any merit to these claims,” said a bank spokesman.
According to the spokesman, all other employees were cooperative during the investigation, while the plaintiff chose not to participate.
