THE allegation that a female banking exec forced herself on a younger male colleague reads like a plot from racy City TV drama Industry.
It starts with employee Lorna Hajdini supposedly squeezing the married broker’s calf while bending down to pick up a pen from the floor in their plush office.
JPMorgan executive Lorna Hajdini allegedly threatened to ‘ruin’ colleague if he did not agree to sleep with her Credit: Linkedin
The JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston, Texas, where the ‘scandal’ unfolded Credit: Getty
Documents issued in a lawsuit state that when he refused her advances, she shouted: “”
The alleged harassment ends, it is claimed, with the unnamed victim plied with date-rape drug Rohypnol before as he cries out for it to stop.
These lurid claims, which include allegations of a forced sex act and toe-sucking, have gone viral on social media.
But Hajdini strongly denies any sexual harassment of her Asian underling and is said to be distraught at finding herself at the centre of a scandal.
Sources told the New York Post that .
In a statement, Hajdini’s lawyers said: “Lorna categorically denies the allegations.
“She never engaged in any inappropriate conduct with this individual of any kind and has never even been to the location where the alleged sexual assault supposedly took place.”
The story, though, has got people talking about power plays at the world’s biggest bank.
Hajdini strongly denies any sexual harassment of her Asian underling and is said to be distraught at finding herself at the centre of a scandal Credit: Instagram/lornamh
Financier John Pierpont Morgan set up partnership in 1895 Credit: Getty
US multi-national JPMorgan Chase is worth £475billion and has 22,000 employees in the UK.
At the end of last year, it announced plans to expand its operation in London by constructing a “landmark tower” in Canary Wharf which has double the floor space of Britain’s tallest building, The Shard.
The City has long been beset by reports of X-rated and inappropriate behaviour, from cocaine- fuelled sex parties to .
Financial drama Industry, which is based on investment banks in London, features countless sex scenes, including one where a female employee bonks a young recruit in a nightclub toilet. The show’s fictional bank is Pierpoint & Co, which is similar to the middle name of JPMorgan’s founder.
Series co-creator Mickey Down, a former banker, said: “There are definitely people who are drug and sex-obsessed in the City.”
But perhaps the Hajdini story would be too outrageous even for the X-rated drama.
According to papers filed at the New York County , the claimant — who can’t be identified in the British press because he is the alleged victim of a sexual offence — started working for JPMorgan Chase in March 2024 as a senior vice president and director, while Hajdini joined a month later in a more senior role.
They were part of a team which worked on big corporate acquisitions, mergers and buyouts.
JPMorgan was tainted by a longstanding business relationship with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Credit: AP
Harry Lawtey and Ali Tate Cutler in racy high-finance TV thriller Credit: BBC/Bad Wolf Productions
The harassment supposedly began in May 2024 with her asking during the alleged calf-squeezing incident: “Oh, you did play in college? I love basketball players.”
After the man supposedly refused to go for drinks with her, the documents claim, she continued to proposition him and allegedly suggested his future promotion was dependent on him “pleasing” her.
She is claimed to have said: “You’re gonna need to earn it, my little Arab boy toy”, during a work event where it is alleged she went on to grope his groin out of view of colleagues.
Matters supposedly got really out of hand in the summer, with Hajdini said in the lawsuit to have turned up at the broker’s apartment.
She is alleged to have said, “Do you want a future at JPMorgan? It’s that simple. I don’t know why you’re fighting this”, before removing her shirt to reveal her naked breasts.
The claimant says she forced herself on him, removing his trousers and performing a sex act.
The man was supposedly in tears as she allegedly demanded he engage sexually with her.
It is claimed she told him, “I f***ing own you” and said: “Stop f***ing crying. You think anyone would ever believe you? You’re a f***ing douche bag who thinks he’s hot s**t, but you can’t even get your d**k hard for me. What the f*** is this?” The accuser claims he did relent to her demands later and described being a “sex slave.”
Donald Trump is suing JPMorgan Chase for £3.7bn, claiming he was debanked for political reasons Credit: Splash
Marisa Abela as City worker stripping off in steamy BBC drama Industry Credit: HBO
Court papers state that last May he made a written complaint to the bank about “race and gender-based discrimination and harassment”.
Shortly afterwards he claims he received threatening phone calls.
He left the company and last month launched a legal action.
The papers — first reported in the Daily Mail — have now been withdrawn for “corrections.”
An article by the New York Post last night quoted Hajdini’s colleagues, who believe the sexual harassment claims were made up. A pal claimed: “He has tarnished her with a complete fabrication.”
Hajdini is said to be a hard worker who volunteers with an organisation that helps underprivileged students get into college.
JPMorgan Chase carried out an internal , combing over emails and phone records.
According to the New York Post, the complainant did not report to Hajdini.
If that is true, she would not have had much power over him.
The bank said: “Following an investigation, we don’t believe there is any merit to these claims.
“While numerous employees cooperated with the investigation, the complainant refused to participate and has declined to provide facts that would be central to support his allegations.”
Hajdini still works for JP Morgan Chase, which is standing by her.
But the story has led to a media storm, with social media users accusing the bank of allowing racist behaviour.
JPMorgan was tainted by a longstanding business relationship with child sex offender .
The bank continued to accept his business even after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring a girl below the age of 18 for prostitution.
while awaiting trial for further child sex-trafficking offences.
In June 2023, the bank reached a £210million out-of-court settlement with two women who claimed to have been sex-trafficked and abused by Epstein.
Internal documents showed that JPMorgan failed to heed warnings about Epstein, who had been a valuable client from 1998 to 2013.
This week the Financial Times reported that British banking executive Vis Raghavan was accused of inappropriate behaviour while at JPMorgan in Canary Wharf. Colleagues told how he had said a “once-attractive woman” was now “fat” and called employees “a waste of calories”.
Raghavan, who has now left the bank, is said to have denied the claims. And in January JPMorgan Chase faced the wrath of the US President , who is suing them for £3.7billion.
Trump claims that they debanked him for political reasons. The bank was also deeply unpopular with British fans when it financially backed plans for a to the tune of £3.5billion in 2021.
The project ultimately failed because supporters protested against a league which would not have promotion or relegation.
The company, which was created in 2000 when JP Morgan merged with Chase Manhattan Bank, is used to paying out eye-watering legal fees.
The Wall Street giant has been fined for its connections to the Enron scandal, the 2008 financial crisis and .
We will have to wait and see if the Hadjini case actually goes to trial to find out how much of this sordid tale is real or not.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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