By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Citigroup on Tuesday forcefully rejected accusations by a former managing director who sued the bank over alleged sexual harassment by wealth management chief Andy Sieg, saying she expressed “steadfast” support for him and that her case belongs in arbitration.
The third-largest U.S. bank petitioned the federal court in Austin, Texas, to move Julia Carreon’s case behind closed doors, one day after the former head of wealth platforms and experiences sued Citigroup for unspecified damages in Manhattan.
Carreon accused Sieg of repeated and public sexual harassment, including his allegedly insinuating they were intimate and telling colleagues that he and she shared a “special song,” and said the bank’s “weaponized” human resources department campaigned to force her out.
But in Tuesday’s petition, Citigroup said “there is absolutely no factual or legal basis” to claim Sieg sexually harassed Carreon.
The New York-based bank also said Carreon “remained steadfast in her praise for Mr. Sieg” several months after she claimed his harassment began, and through her final days at the bank before her June 7, 2024, departure.
In one example, Citigroup said Carreon allegedly wrote to Sieg on May 29, 2024: “You are truly one of the most exceptional people & leaders I’ve ever met. Your integrity is irreproachable…. They are so lucky to have you.”
The day before she left, according to Citigroup, Carreon wrote Sieg and another top wealth executive: “Thank you both for attempting to change the culture. It’s not easy. Particularly not for change makers. Tmrw is my last day. Appreciate you. Can’t wait to watch the great things you’ll do.”
Carreon’s lawyer Linda Friedman said her client is a “strong person” who looks forward to her day in court.
“Citi’s retaliatory filing of a lawsuit against Ms. Carreon after she sued the firm for gender and racial discrimination speaks eloquently to the bullying and intimidation tactics Wall Street firms routinely employ against women or people of color who have the courage to seek reform,” Friedman added.
Citigroup said Carreon agreed when she was hired in 2021 and again in 2022 to be bound by its arbitration policy.
In March 2022, former U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which prohibits companies from forcing employees with sexual harassment claims into arbitration.
Sieg is one of Citigroup Chief Executive Jane Fraser’s highest-profile hires. He is not a defendant in Carreon’s lawsuit. Carreon lived and worked in Austin while employed at Citigroup, the bank said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Tatiana Bautzer in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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