Citi's senior women are fighting back after C-suite supported Andy Sieg
Andy Sieg, the Citi wealth management head accused of sarcasm and "expletive filled rants" may have upset some people in his team, but he's popular with the sorts of Citi people who matter. Now, some of the women who complained about him are challenging this.
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The Financial Times reports that senior (ex) Citi women like Naz Vahid, the former head of Citi Global Wealth at Work and Ida Liu, the former head of Citi's private bank, weren't interviewed by Paul Weiss, the law firm commissioned by Citi to investigate Sieg. It also says that another three women from the wealth division are being represented by attorney Linda Friedman, and that they weren't interviewed either.
Neither Vahid nor Liu nor Citi nor Paul Weiss responded to a request to comment for this article. However, Citi told the FT that it hasn't received the complaint from Friedman and that "everyone is treated fairly and has equal opportunity to succeed”.
Bloomberg reported in July that law firm Paul Weiss had interviewed "more than a dozen" people at Citi after "at least" six Citi managing directors (MDs) had complained about Sieg, implying that the investigation had been thorough. The complaints reportedly centred on Sieg's treatment of Liu, who left in January. He was alleged to have called an unnamed individual "pathetic" and to have sarcastically disparaged an executive to colleagues.
In September, however, Citi's senior executives expressed their support for Sieg. Citi CEO Jane Fraser, who personally travelled to Sieg's Connecticut home to persuade him to join the bank two years ago, said she was "very comfortable" with the Paul Weiss investigation and that Sieg had a "clear mandate" which he was delivering upon. Citi CFO Mark Mason said Sieg had "very methodically" taken out excess cost. The implication was to the extent that Sieg had upset people, it was immaterial and in the course of doing his job.
Today's FT article suggests there may still be more to it. Ardith Lindsey, the ex-Citi managing director embroiled in a claim that tolerated harassment in its equities unit, said on LinkedIn that Citi also hired Paul Weiss to independently investigate her case. However, Paul Weiss is now representing Citi in the case against Lindsey and the FT notes that the law firm regularly defends Citi in litigation cases.
Whether Paul Weiss is genuinely independent of the bank may therefore be questioned. The Sieg investigation may yet need to be reopened.
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