(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. placed a senior dealmaker within its equity capital markets group on leave as the firm investigates a complaint regarding a verbal altercation with a junior banker, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Edward Ruff, a New York-based managing director in the investment banking unit that handles initial public offerings and other stock deals, was suspended from work in January and has yet to return, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the review hasn’t been widely disclosed. Ruff publicly berated a junior banker, who is a person of color, in the office, leading to a complaint about the language he used, said the people.
“The work to have an inclusive and equitable workplace culture never stops, and ensuring that these standards are well understood and complied with by everyone at Citi is a continuous, proactive process,” Citigroup said in an emailed statement. “We provide colleagues with a number of avenues to raise concerns in confidence, and when substantiated, we will take appropriate action, up to and including termination of employment. While we will not comment on individual internal matters, simply put, where warranted, we exit employees who fail to meet our high standards of respectful treatment in our workplace.”
Ruff didn’t respond to requests for comment and an automatic response generated by his Citi email stated that he’s on a leave of absence. Reuters reported Thursday that the bank is probing at least two instances of alleged abusive behavior toward multiple members of his team, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Ruff rejoined Citi in 2014 from Perella Weinberg Partners, where he worked for just a few months, Finra records show, having previously worked at Citi as a junior banker.
Junior bankers in recent years have sought better treatment in what have long been grueling early careers, with the most prominent example a widely circulated deck from a cohort of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. juniors in 2021. That firm said in response it would try to better ensure that young employees get at least one day off a week.
A sharp slowdown in the pace of deals in the past two years have lessened the near-term burnout concerns. A year ago, Citi gave many of its junior bankers a boost in compensation despite revenue falling amid the slump.
By Gillian Tan
With assistance from Amy Or, Crystal Tse and Todd Gillespie.
