JPMorgan Banker Countersues Accuser After Explosive Workplace Allegations

The JPMorgan Chase executive accused of s—-- assault has filed a countersuit against her accuser. Lorna Hajdini sued former colleague Chirayu Rana on May 19, alleging that his claims damaged her reputation.

Rana, a former employee at the investment banking company, had filed a legal complaint against Hajdini on April 27. He alleged that, as his superior, Hajdini coerced him into engaging in s—-- activities with her.

Rana said that the banker threatened to ruin his career if he refused to oblige. The lawsuit received widespread media attention, with social media users making AI-generated memes against Hajdini.

In her lawsuit, Hajdini said the media coverage and the memes turned her life into a nightmare. According to her, she suffered reputational harm, lost a volunteering job and endured mental agony due to Rana’s allegations. She is now seeking an unspecified amount of damages from her former colleague.

“Plaintiff deliberately crafted a salacious narrative designed to achieve maximum press coverage and inflict maximum pain; unfortunately, it has succeeded despite its falsity. Plaintiff’s false, malicious, and bad faith statements have wreaked havoc on Ms. Hajdini’s life,” the defamation lawsuit reads.

“Ms. Hajdini and members of her family have been mocked, ridiculed, and harassed around the clock, with Ms. Hajdini serving as the ongoing focal point of countless jokes, memes, and AI-generated images and videos of a persistently vile, degrading, and s-----nature—all a direct consequence of Plaintiff’s lies,” it further states.

JPMorgan Chase, which has consistently sided with Hajdini, once again supported her. “We fully support Lorna and her right to defend herself and protect her reputation. As we’ve said from the outset, we don’t believe the allegations against her or the firm have merit,” the company said in an official statement.

Rana responded to Hajdini’s lawsuit with a statement released by his spokesperson. The banker said he has not defamed Hajdini, maintaining that everything he said about her was true. “Defamation requires the statement or statements must be false. Truth is an absolute defense. Mr. Rana’s statements are true. This will be proven in a court of law,” the spokesperson commented.

In his original lawsuit, Rana alleged that Hajdini assaulted him on multiple occasions with threats like ‘I’m going to ruin you…Never forget’ and ‘I’m going to sabotage your promotion.’ He also claimed that Hajdini taunted him with nicknames.

Rana eventually left JPMorgan Chase in October 2025. However, he said his former employer continued to torment him by sabotaging his efforts to land a new job. It was later reported that JPMorgan Chase had offered Rana $1 million to settle his complaints, but he refused.

“We did try to reach an agreement to avoid the time and expense of litigation and to support an employee who was being threatened with the very reputational harm now unfolding,” the company’s spokesperson, Brian Marchiony, said in a statement. Hajdini joined JPMorgan Chase in 2011 and continues to work at the company.