Former Royal Bank of Canada Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn has filed a lawsuit against the bank for wrongful dismissal, seeking nearly C$50 million in pay and damages. Ahn was terminated in April for allegedly violating the bank’s code of conduct due to an undisclosed personal relationship with a co-worker, which the bank claimed led to preferential treatment.
In her lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Ahn denies the allegations, saying that she and Ken Mason, who worked in the bank’s corporate treasury group, were merely friends since 2013. She argues that their friendship was not concealed and did not require disclosure under RBC’s code.
Ahn’s court filing details a sudden meeting on April 5, where she was questioned by a lawyer about her relationship with Mason. She claims to have suffered “palpable reputational harm” and “public humiliation” as a result of her termination.
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Ken Mason, who was also fired, has filed a separate lawsuit against RBC, seeking over C$20 million in pay and damages. Mason’s lawsuit alleges discrimination, claiming that if he and Ahn were of the same gender, their relationship would not have been investigated.
Both Ahn and Mason deny any romantic involvement or preferential treatment. Mason’s lawsuit asserts that RBC wrongly shamed them publicly to project moral righteousness.
“RBC opted to make an example of Ken and Ahn by wrongly publicly shaming them in order to project moral righteousness, appearing to swiftly investigate and punish perceived corruption,” according to the court filing.
“The clear insinuation of the RBC Statement was that Ken and Ahn had had an extramarital affair and that Ken received career advancement and financial benefits as a result. This insinuation was false and defamatory.”
RBC spokesperson Gillian McArdle, on the other hand, said that the claims are without merit and that the bank will vigorously defend against them in court.
“We conducted a thorough review with an investigation by outside legal counsel and the facts are very clear that there was a significant breach of our Code of Conduct based on the irrefutable evidence collected during the investigation.”
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