(BankingDive) - Citi has filed a counterclaim against its former employee, Kathleen Martin, alleging she was fired for being unable to fulfill her role rather than refusing to fudge records needed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as she said in her lawsuit in May.
Martin, who was terminated in September 2023 from her role as the bank’s interim data transformation chair after nearly two years at Citi, alleged she was fired for not consenting to Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva’s request that she hide information from the OCC that would make the lender “look bad.”
She filed an amended lawsuit in July, accusing Selva of intentional deceit. Martin claimed Selva “wanted to misreport Citi’s metrics to deceive” the OCC into thinking the bank was compliant with the requirements of a 2020 $400 million consent order the regulator issued over risk management issues.
However, Citi reiterated Thursday that Martin’s expulsion followed a lack of “requisite leadership and engagement skills to successfully execute in the significant role of interim Data Transformation Chair” — a claim the bank had made in June.
Martin joined Citi in November 2021 as a subject matter expert in data governance and was part of a team of at least five senior managers who reported to Rob Casper, Citi’s data transformation chair at the time. When Casper decided to leave the firm, Citi began a companywide search for his replacement, and Martin was chosen for the role on an interim basis.
However, Martin’s interviews for the position and the assessment conducted by a consulting firm identified the areas she needed to work on, including a “dogmatic nature, lack of innovation and lack of experience driving the execution of complex change across Citi” the bank said.
When Casper left the company, Martin’s deficiencies became apparent to Citi’s senior leadership, including Selva, Citi said.
“Unfortunately, as Plaintiff’s former supervisor and mentor Casper stepped away from Citi, it became clear to Citi’s senior leadership, including her new direct supervisor Anand Selva, Citi’s COO who is leading its Transformation efforts, that Plaintiff could not successfully execute the role of interim Data Transformation Chair,” the bank said.
Selva tried to help the plaintiff by setting up one-on-one meetings and working groups to facilitate better collaboration and improved working relationships with stakeholders. Selva and his HR team also gave her a senior mentor to support her development, Citi said.
In May 2023, leadership discussed a plan to improve Martin’s performance. In July, Selva conveyed her midyear review before Martin raised any concerns regarding Selva’s behavior. Soon after, she contacted HR and informed the office of her fears about her job.
Martin “felt her position was at risk,” Citi said.
However, the ex-employee claimed in her lawsuit that internal documents showed that she “exceed[ed] expectations” and that CEO Jane Fraser commended Martin for her “gravitas” and her skills in building “strong relationships” at the bank.
Failing to heed the feedback provided, Martin was removed from her role as the data transformation chair, Citi said.
“Defendants [assert] that Plaintiff failed to develop the executive level relationships needed to execute Citi’s Data Transformation, that various constituencies at Citi did not view Plaintiff as a leader, and as a result, she was failing to perform in her role as interim Data Transformation Chair,” the bank said.
“Citi was compelled to replace Plaintiff as Data Transformation Chair — the role of Data Transformation Chair was too important for Citi to tolerate Plaintiff’s underperformance,” the bank added.
Citi confirmed that Martin was part of a team that met and responded to questions from the OCC related to the consent order but denied that Martin protested that a key metric must be reported accurately or that Selva objected to it. The lender also said Selva and Martin met in September 2023 to discuss how to report certain metrics in red, amber and green reporting scales.
The OCC and the Federal Reserve fined Citi $135.6 million for failing to make adequate progress toward resolving data quality, risk management, and internal control issues while Martin was the interim data transformation chair at the bank.
Martin's attorney, Valdi Licul of Wigdor LLP, acknowledged the lawsuit's legal validity and discussed his plan to seek depositions from Citi’s executives, including Fraser.
"We look forward to conducting the depositions of Ms. Fraser and Mr. Selva to show that they fired Ms. Martin only because she complained about illegal activity," Licul told Reuters.
By Rajashree Chakravarty
