By Nivedita Bal
TORONTO (Reuters) – Royal Bank of Canada filed a counterclaim on Friday against its ousted chief financial officer Nadine Ang, detailing the findings of an internal investigation into her close relationship with a subordinate and alleging she violated the bank’s code of conduct.
Ahn filed a lawsuit last week against RBC for wrongful termination, alleging that “gender stereotypes” played a part in her termination. She is seeking roughly C$50 million in damages from RBC.
RBC, Canada’s largest bank, said in April it had fired Mr. Ang after an investigation found he had an undisclosed close personal relationship with another executive, Ken Mason, and received preferential treatment, including promotions and increased pay.
Mason is also suing the bank for about C$20 million for wrongful dismissal and denies having a close personal relationship with Ang.
In its answer and counterclaim filed in Ontario Provincial Court, RBC said it received an anonymous whistleblower alleging that Ang and Mason were in an intimate relationship.
RBC said a review of electronic communications stored on its systems found that Ang and Mason communicated regularly using personal and work devices.
RBC’s court filings detail Ahn’s relationship with Mason, which began in 2013 or earlier, highlighting dates, poems written by Mason, intimate email exchanges and what the bank said were code words the pair used when meeting for drinks.
In its response, RBC said Ang owes RBC approximately C$3.3 million in payments related to benefits from a performance-based deferred share unit program, a short-term incentive program and the exercise of RBC stock options.
RBC said Ang’s intervention led to a 58% increase in Mason’s total compensation over the two years starting in 2021 and led to the decision to promote Mason to vice president and head of capital and term funds in 2023.
Lawyers for Ahn, 53, and Mason, 57, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the counterclaim.
In his wrongful dismissal lawsuit, Ahn argued the bank’s allegations were “demonstrably false” and that his success, career and reputation were destroyed in an instant by the bank.
An RBC spokesman said the company was disappointed to learn the allegations were true.
“Contrary to Ms. Ang and Mr. Mason’s allegations, our investigation determined that they had a private, close personal relationship and that Ms. Ang misused her authority as chief financial officer to directly benefit Mr. Mason,” the spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bal in Toronto; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
