Ex-RBC CFO says bank manufactured workplace-romance case
Royal Bank of Canada’s former chief financial officer, fired over allegations she had an undisclosed personal relationship with another executive, said the bank was trying to “manufacture” a reason to get rid of her, as both sides double down in the increasingly acrimonious fight.
Nadine Ahn repeated her denial that she was in a romantic relationship with Ken Mason, a former executive in the bank’s treasury department. The two were nothing more than “good friends,” and Ahn never abused her power to orchestrate promotions or pay raises for him, according to new legal documents filed in an Ontario court.
Canada’s biggest bank sacked Ahn in April after an investigation sparked by an anonymous whistleblower’s complaint about the alleged relationship. The former CFO, one of the country’s most prominent women in finance with 25 years of experience at the bank, filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit last month.
The bank fired back one week later, alleging it has more than a decade of communications between Ahn and Mason proving the two had an intimate relationship that they failed to disclose. RBC claimed the colleagues used pet names, swapped romantic poetry, celebrated anniversaries and met outside of work for drinks.
“It is clear that RBC’s conclusions are based on conjecture and speculation, and are a blatant, deliberate attempt to manufacture a just cause termination,” the court filing states.
RBC has “selectively quoted” communications between the former colleagues, Ahn’s lawyer, Mark Fletcher, said in a separate statement on Thursday. “There is no policy against workplace friendships, and that’s all this was.”
A spokesperson for RBC declined to comment on Ahn’s new filings but referred to the bank’s previous responses and
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