Former JPMorgan Chase employee files federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, sexual assault
Chirayur Rana accuses former colleague Lorna Hajdini of violating civil rights, and three other bankers in the leveraged finance department are also named as defendants JP Morgan Chase Global Headquarters Building Former employee Chirayu Rana filed a complaint in federal court, accusing the bank's leveraged finance team of widespread racial discrimination and workplace harassment. The explosive details of the case have attracted Wall Street attention. Rana, who is of Nepali descent, joined JPMorgan Chase in 2024 and left the following year. In April this year, he sued Hajdini and JPMorgan Chase in state court, accusing each other of long-term sexual assault and harassment. The relevant news quickly flooded the Internet. On Monday, he filed another federal lawsuit, reiterating multiple accusations: He was the only non-white employee on the team, his boss used racial slurs to insult him for a long time, and he was sexually assaulted. Three former JPMorgan Chase colleagues were added as defendants this time. A JPMorgan spokesman declined to comment; Hajdini's lawyer did not respond to a request for an interview. Previously, Hajdini's lawyer completely denied all accusations, saying that the relevant statements were pure fabrications, and stated that the two had never had any sexual relations. JPMorgan Chase said it had completed an internal self-examination and determined that all of Rana's accusations lacked basis. Chirayu Rana walking on the streets of New York in 2024 According to the complaint, team members bluntly stated that the hiring of Rana, who is of Nepali origin, was just to meet the diverse employment assessment indicators. Rana once again cited previous accusations, saying that Hajdini had said that the company favored employees who looked close to CEO Jamie Dimon, and that management wanted to maintain the company's predominantly white, Christian personnel structure. Rana's previous state lawsuit revealed a lot of eye-catching details: Hajdini sexually assaulted her multiple times over several months and continued to verbally humiliate her, such as mocking his wife for "not having such a plump figure." The federal complaint omits most of the highly topical quotes. Rana's original legal team has voluntarily withdrawn from representation. Lawyers from the newly appointed law firm Joseph & Norinsberg applied to transfer the case from the state court to the federal court for hearing, on the grounds that the initial complaint omitted new claims such as infringement of civil rights under federal law, and such causes of action should be under the jurisdiction of the federal court. Bregal Sagemount, the private equity firm where Rana subsequently worked, revealed that the company had fired him in early April. The Wall Street Journal disclosed in May that a few weeks before Rana launched the first round of lawsuits, JPMorgan Chase had offered $1 million to settle sexual assault and harassment-related charges.