Fired CFO claims affair story concocted by bank as reason to force her out

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 raises for him, according to new legal documents filed in an Ontario court.

Canada’s largest bank fired 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 countered a week later, claiming it has more than a decade of communications between Ahn and Mason that prove the two had an intimate relationship they failed to disclose. RBC claimed colleagues used pet names, exchanged 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 produce a termination for just cause,” the court filing states.

RBC “selectively subpoenaed” communications between former colleagues, Ahn’s lawyer Mark Fletcher said in a separate statement Thursday. “There is no policy against workplace friendships and that’s it.”

An RBC spokesman declined to comment on Ahn’s new filings, but referred to the bank’s previous responses and court filings.

“Miss. Ahn was a highly respected member of the executive team and a senior leader with fiduciary responsibilities. We supported her career development and had great confidence in her abilities,” the company said in an earlier statement. After receiving the anonymous complaint , the bank “immediately began a thorough investigation led by outside legal counsel. We were disappointed to learn that the allegations are true.”

RBC also said it had an obligation to disclose Ahn’s dismissal in a press release because she was a named executive officer of the company.

Attorneys for Mason, who is also suing for wrongful termination, did not respond to a request for comment.

RBC allegations

Mason earned his promotions and raises, Fletcher said. “Nadine was supportive when she was consulted about these decisions because they made sense. There are many checks and balances at the bank to ensure that no one individual can unilaterally determine compensation.”

In the court filing, Ahn argued that the bank’s policies do not require disclosure of workplace friendships. RBC executives regularly socialized outside of work, and some even took vacations together. Nicknames were a common part of the workplace culture, the documents claim.

Ahn has continued to deny RBC’s allegations that he improperly shared confidential information with Mason and that he lied to outside investigators when confronted about the relationship.

She said a situation in which she fired an employee for having an undisclosed romantic relationship with a subordinate was “fundamentally different from the workplace friendship” she had with Mason.

(Updates with previous company responses in eighth paragraph.)

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