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Former JPMorgan banker adds civil-rights claims over alleged discrimination and harassment

Former JPMorgan banker adds civil-rights claims over alleged discrimination and harassment

The federal complaint now cites preserved messages, recorded conversations, sworn witness accounts and 24 causes of action tied to alleged racial abuse, sexual coercion and retaliation after Rana says he reported the conduct.

Fact Check
All specific elements of the claim are corroborated by three independent sources. The PR Newswire release from the plaintiff's law firm explicitly confirms the federal complaint filed July 27, 2026, the 24 causes of action, and the evidentiary basis of preserved messages, recorded conversations, and witness accounts, alleging racial abuse, sexual coercion, and retaliation after Rana reported the conduct. Reuters and WSJ independently confirm the expansion into a federal civil-rights lawsuit adding claims to the earlier state suit. The claim describes allegations in a lawsuit (not proven facts); the sources confirm these allegations were made as described.
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Summary

Former JPMorgan Chase banker Chirayu Rana filed an expanded federal civil-rights complaint alleging that racism, sexual coercion and retaliation on the bank's leveraged finance team derailed his career. The Southern District of New York filing names JPMorgan Chase & Co., Executive Director Lorna Hajdini and Managing Directors Brandon Graffeo and Jon Wolter as defendants, and says preserved messages, internal group chats, audio recordings and sworn witness accounts support the case. Rana alleges he was the highest-producing originator on the team and its only non-white, non-Christian banker, and says colleagues mocked his Nepali heritage with slurs including "Brown Boy," "Brownie," "boy" and "monkey." He also alleges Hajdini used her authority over assignments, pay and advancement to coerce sexual acts and threatened to damage his career if he resisted. After he formally reported the alleged discrimination and abuse in May 2025, Rana says JPMorgan removed him from the workplace, revoked his systems and building access, cut his pay and placed him on indefinite involuntary leave while the employees he accused kept working. The complaint also alleges anonymous racial threats against Rana and his family, and says the bank failed to conduct a meaningful investigation. Rana is seeking back pay, front pay, lost benefits, compensatory and punitive damages, equitable relief, attorneys' fees and a jury trial under federal, state and city law.

Terms & Concepts
  • leveraged finance: Corporate lending and deal financing for highly indebted companies, often tied to buyouts.
  • front pay: Compensation a court may award for future lost earnings after alleged unlawful treatment at work.
  • hostile work environment: A workplace made intimidating or abusive through alleged discriminatory or harassing conduct.