Written by Nivedita Balu
TORONTO (Reuters) – Royal Bank of Canada filed a countersuit against ousted Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn on Friday, outlining the results of an internal investigation into her alleged intimate relationship with a subordinate and accusing her of violating the bank’s code of conduct.
Last week, Anne filed a lawsuit against RBC Bank for wrongful termination, alleging that “gender discrimination” was a factor in her dismissal. She is suing the bank for about $50 million Canadian.
In April, RBC, Canada’s largest bank, said it had terminated Anne’s services after an investigation found she had an undisclosed close personal relationship with another executive, Ken Mason, that led to preferential treatment including promotions and compensation increases.
Mason also filed a lawsuit against the bank seeking $20 million in damages for wrongful termination, and denied having any close personal relationship with Anne.
In its statement of defence and counterclaim filed with the Ontario Court of Justice, RBC said it received a complaint from an anonymous person that Anne and Mason were in an intimate relationship.
RBC said it reviewed electronic communications kept on its systems and found through its investigation that Anne and Mason regularly used personal and work devices to communicate.
Court filings filed by RBC Bank detailed the relationship between Anne and Mason, which began in 2013 or earlier, highlighting their dates, poems Mason wrote, intimate email exchanges and what the bank said was the code they used to describe meeting for drinks.
RBC said in its response that Ahn must repay RBC approximately C$3.3 million for payments related to the performance-based deferred stock unit program, the short-term incentive program and gains from exercising RBC stock options.
RBC said Ann’s intervention resulted in Mason receiving a 58% total compensation increase over two fiscal years starting in 2021, and that it had made the decision to promote Mason to vice president and head of capital and term finance in 2023.
Attorneys for Ann, 53, and Mason, 57, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the countersuit.
In her unfair dismissal claim, Anne said the bank’s allegations were “patently false” and that her successes, career and reputation were destroyed in an instant by the bank.
An RBC Bank spokesman said he was disappointed to learn that the allegations were true.
“Contrary to the allegations made by Ann and Mason, the investigation has shown that there was a close, undisclosed personal relationship, and that Ann abused her authority as CFO to directly benefit Mason,” the company spokesperson said.