Ramesh Menon, the former head of Citigroup's structured products group who was fired over a week ago, has said his dismissal was directly linked to the fact he filed a $138 million lawsuit against the firm. Last month, in the suit, he alleged individuals at the firm discriminated against him on the basis of racial and cultural origin (DW, 11/4).
"I believe that my firing was transparently retaliatory and pretextual [sic], and I strongly dispute the basis for my termination," he said.
A Citi spokeswoman would not comment directly, but stressed the part of a company statement on the matter which suggests the two incidents were not connected, and that Menon was fired for failing to meet standards of professional conduct, including failing to show up to work on a regular basis, and that he'd been given a warning some weeks prior.
"We are aware that Mr. Menon recently filed a lawsuit against the company. We respect that right, but he also, like all employees, needs to come to work regularly and do his job. As we have stated previously, we believe the lawsuit is without merit, its allegations are false, and we will contest it vigorously," said the statement, which also included a more detailed explanation for the reasons behind the firing.
Menon said the move only adds ammunition to his suit. "This very much strengthens the case I have regarding retaliation," he said.
