Citi women asked to sign NDAs agreeing not to bring harassment claims when they leave

As Citi battles a wave of bad publicity regarding culture in its equities division, women who've left the bank in the recent past say their ability to complain about poor treatment by men in the unit has been hamstrung by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) specifying that they must not bring discrimination or harassment claims against senior individuals.

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In a Citi NDA seen by eFinancialCareers, the female recipient agrees not to bring, "a claim for direct or indirect discrimination, harassment or victimisation, related to disability, discrimination arising from disability, or failure to make reasonable adjustments under section 120 of the Equality Act 2010." 

That latter refers to a UK act specifying people can't be discriminated against on the grounds of age, gender, disability, race, religion and sex and sexual orientation, among other things. The act states that employers must make "reasonable adjustments" to ensure employees are not, "substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs."

The wording in Citi's NDAs isn't unusual in banking in London. Nor is it limited to women leaving the bank: men who leave Citi are asked to waive their rights to bring harassment claims too. But some women leaving Citi say it's more impactful for them because they're the ones bearing the brunt of the alleged harassment in some of its divisions.

Ardith Lindsey, a US based managing director in Citi's electronic equities division is suing the bank for gender discrimination, including hostile work environment, after she claims she endured 'horrifying sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and sexual assault,' during her 15-year history with the firm. Citi is contesting Lindsey's claims and earlier this month filed a partial motion to dismiss them with the New York Courts. The NDAs do not apply in the US, but some of the individuals mentioned in Lindsey's claim and in a subsequent Bloomberg article, work for Citi in London. 

Citi declined to comment for this article. Citi spokesperson Mark Costiglio told Bloomberg previously that: “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.”

One female employee who left Citi in London says the NDA clauses are used to silence people. "You sign an NDA and you will not tell anyone what is going on inside the bank and how they mistreated you." She signed the NDA voluntarily but claims to have been "bullied" into it in return for a sum of money. "People are signing for as little as £10k," she says. 

James Davies, a partner at law firm Lewis Silkin in London, who represents both individuals and banks, says no one is compelled to sign an NDA and that Citi's process and wording are standard for the industry. "No one is forcing people to sign NDAs," says Davies. "They are doing it to get a sum of money that is paid to them by the bank, and that sum will be more than their basic legal right. People are keen to maximize the amount of money they get on departure, and they won't get that money if they don't sign." 

The ex-Citi woman who signed the NDA when she left says she now regrets it: "I cannot bring any legal action against them." A former male employee describes the industry standard agreements as like a kind of blackmail: the sums of money are simply too large to walk away from. "You don't sign, you get zero payout," he says.  

However, Davies says that even if you sign an NDA you don't waive all your rights. "You can waive a right to bring a claim in return for a payment, but you don't waive the right to report the issue to the Financial Conduct Authority, to the police, or to the equity and human rights commission." You can report an issue, and the regulatory body may pursue the claim instead. "If the FCA wants to look into it, it will be the regulator and not you who is bringing the claim against the bank," Davies advises.

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