Lorna Hajdini, a 37-year-old JPMorgan Chase executive, has been accused of forcing a married banker to perform “non-consensual and degrading sexual acts” over a period of months, the Daily Mail (IST) reported on Thursday.
According to the lawsuit, despite his pleas to stop, Hajdini allegedly used her power to sexually harass and abuse her junior employee by drugging him, subjecting him to racial abuse and threatening his career when he refused her advances.
Read also | Flirty Meta AI chatbots impersonated Taylor Swift, Anne Hathaway and more
The accused also claimed that she admitted to drugging him with a date-rape drug (“roofies”) several times. He further claimed that during one incident she verbally abused him while he was crying as she performed a non-consensual sexual act on him.
The plaintiff, who preferred to remain anonymous, filed the complaint in New York County Supreme Court on Monday under the pseudonym John Doe. After receiving threats, he claimed to be hiding his identity to protect himself and his family.
What did the lawsuit say?
Doe’s lawsuit also accused JPMorgan Chase ( JMPC ) of facilitating the alleged abuse and retaliating against the banker after he reported it, claiming the firm placed him on involuntary leave, destroyed his reputation and allowed him to continue making threats while the 37-year-old accused and others went unpunished.
According to the plaintiff’s complaint, Hajdini’s alleged abuse began almost immediately after the pair began working together in the spring of 2024. Doe, an Asian, joined JPMC as Senior VP/Director in March 2024, and Hajdini was named to the team in a senior role in April.
The lawsuit states that Hajdini’s sexual advances began in May 2024, when she allegedly dropped a pen on the floor next to Doe’s desk and, while bending to pick it up, rubbed his leg and squeezed his calf. She claims she then remarked, ‘Oh, did you play basketball in college? …I love basketball players…so they dunked me.”
Read also | Nashik sexual harassment case: TCS orders work from home in Nashik unit
Sexual advances, racial slurs
The advances allegedly became more explicit and frequent from that point on, Doe wrote in his complaint. He further said that later that month Hajdini asked him out for a drink, but he declined. To which she allegedly replied, “If you don’t cheat on me soon, I will destroy you… never forget, I own you.”
Doe claimed that while he continued to resist her advances, the 37-year-old accused allegedly threatened professional retribution and told him that if he wanted to be promoted to executive director, he would have to start ‘pleasing’ her.
She also allegedly subjected him to racial slurs, using terms such as “brown boy”, “Arab boy toy”. In another case later in the year, Hajdini told Doe, “I damn well own you! I’m going to make you pay. . . . You think you’re going to be in good shape without me in your corner,” she allegedly said.
The defendant added that he was repeatedly reminded that Hajdini “owned” him and that she controlled his promotions and bonuses, which he interpreted as a threat to block both if he did not agree.
Fearing retribution, the complainant relented and submitted to at least two sexual encounters with Hajdini.
JPMC’s apparent response to Doe’s complaints
Concerned that the company would not properly investigate his claims, Doe began looking outside for work in late 2024. However, his prospects were reportedly curtailed after Hajdini and several other senior managers began giving him “aggressively negative” references.
In a written complaint sent to JPMC in 2025, Doe detailed what he described as racial and gender discrimination and a pattern of “severe sexual abuse.”
After his complaint, he started receiving threats from several callers, most of whom wanted to silence him. The callers even threatened to report his family to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Within days of filing his report, Doe said he was reprimanded and then locked out of all company systems and placed on involuntary leave, a decision he claims HR related to his complaints. Meanwhile, he claims Hajdini and the other managers he accuses have faced no comparable action.
According to a JPMC spokesperson, a thorough internal investigation found no evidence to support Doe’s allegations. A spokesman said: “After investigation we do not believe there is any merit to these claims.”
Social networks respond to alleged abuse
As soon as the news broke, social media users began comparing Doe’s case to the movie plot, with one user on X writing: “JP Morgan sexual harassment case looks like Michael Crichton, Michael Douglas + Demi Moore’s ‘Revelation’. Copied as Aitraaz.”
“Here’s the thing: Both Douglas and Akshay Kumar look completely unconvincing as ‘harassed’ men in actual ‘action’ scenes. They look happy.”
