A sensational sexual harassment lawsuit filed against a JPMorgan Chase executive by a former employee has been withdrawn and is being described by the bank and the executive’s lawyers as a fabrication, with new details raising questions about the accuser’s account.
Chirayu Rana, 35, a former vice president in JPMorgan’s leveraged finance group, filed the complaint under the pseudonym “John Doe” in New York state court around April 28, 2026. He accused Executive Director Lorna Hajdini, 37, of subjecting him to months of sexual abuse, drugging him with Rohypnol and Viagra, using racial slurs such as “brown boy Indian,” threatening his bonus and career if he refused her advances, and even showing up uninvited at his Manhattan apartment.
The suit, which also named JPMorgan Chase as a defendant, quickly went viral after being reported by outlets including the Daily Mail. It sought damages for emotional distress, lost earnings and reputational harm. But within days, Rana’s lawyers pulled the filing for what they described as “corrections.”
JPMorgan Chase conducted an internal investigation that reviewed emails, phone records and witness statements. The bank said it found “no evidence” to support Rana’s claims.
“Following an investigation, we don’t believe there’s any merit to these claims,” a JPMorgan spokesperson said. “While numerous employees cooperated with the investigation, the complainant refused to participate and has declined to provide facts that would be central to support his allegations.”
Hajdini’s attorneys issued a categorical denial.
“She never engaged in any inappropriate conduct with this individual of any kind and has never even been to the location where the alleged sexual assault supposedly took place,” her lawyers said through a bank spokesperson.
Further details have cast additional doubt on the allegations. Rana and Hajdini did not share a direct reporting relationship, meaning she had no authority over his compensation or bonus — a central element of the claimed coercion, according to people familiar with the bank’s structure.
Rana had previously filed an internal complaint with JPMorgan human resources in May 2025 alleging race- and gender-based harassment and seeking a multimillion-dollar severance package. He left the bank in late 2024.
Records also show Rana left his subsequent job as a principal at private equity firm Bregal Sagemount on April 2, 2026 — just three weeks before filing the lawsuit. The firm confirmed his employment dates but declined to comment further.
Perhaps most damaging to Rana’s credibility, according to a New York Post report, is an online exchange he appears to have had nearly a year earlier with a legal-advice chatbot on AskALawyerOnCall.com. In that July 2025 conversation, the user — identified by the site as Rana — described being “raped, sexually assaulted, harassed, and forced to do drugs” by a male boss at Morgan Stanley, not a female executive at JPMorgan. The timeline and details in the chatbot query also conflict with the lawsuit.
Rana could not be reached for comment. His attorney has not publicly addressed the chatbot exchange or the other discrepancies.
The swift retraction, combined with the bank’s findings and the inconsistencies, has led prominent voices including podcast host Joe Rogan to publicly dismiss the claims as fabricated. Hajdini’s team has indicated she is considering a defamation lawsuit.
The episode highlights the intense scrutiny that follows high-profile workplace allegations in the finance industry — and the speed with which unverified claims can spread online before facts emerge. As of Monday, the lawsuit remains withdrawn, and no amended version has been refiled.
Flip the pages for photos of Lorna Hajdini.
