Ex-Citi exec alleges sexual harassment against Sieg in lawsuit

A high-ranking former Citi executive is accusing wealth head Andy Sieg of sexual harassment, alleging that he conspired to sweep her complaints under the rug and force her out.

Julia Carreon, who served as Citi's global head of platform and experiences until 2024, filed a civil complaint on Monday in federal court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleges she was subjected to a "harassment campaign" and a "misogynistic investigation" that reduced her to a "sex object" in the eyes of her colleagues.

Carreon, a longtime employee of Wells Fargo, was recruited by Citi in 2021 to improve its lagging digital systems. Her suit claims that upon joining the firm, she was met with hostility from a "boys club" of white, male leaders who were "reluctant to embrace the change" she was hired to carry out.

A big driver of the complaint is Citi's alleged use of a "weaponized" human resources department to shield male executives while forcing out women who "reach too close to the heights of power." The suit contends that Citi has worked to force employees into the "secretive world of arbitration" to minimize the consequences of rampant harassment.

READ MORE: Citi backs Sieg in earlier conduct investigation

A Citi spokesperson told Bloomberg, "This lawsuit has absolutely no merit, and we will demonstrate that through the legal process." The lawsuit was reported on earlier by the Financial Times.

The allegations take a particularly sharp turn involving Andy Sieg, the head of Citi Wealth who joined the firm in 2023. While Sieg initially praised Carreon as a "rockstar," the suit alleges his support transformed into "unrelenting and egregious sexual harassment, manipulation, and grooming."

According to the complaint:

• Sieg repeatedly insinuated in public settings — including holiday dinners and meetings — that he and Carreon were in an intimate relationship.
• He allegedly told Carreon he was "glazing her so hard" to other executives that it "made him feel dirty."
• Sieg reportedly contacted her from a "burner" phone and sat conspicuously close to her in meetings to cultivate an impression of inappropriate closeness.
  

The suit alleges the "widespread false assumption" that Carreon was sleeping with her boss ruined her professional reputation, leading one colleague to tell her, "Julia, you realize you're being groomed, right?"
When HR officials eventually stepped in, according to the lawsuit, they didn't investigate Sieg's conduct, but instead interrogated Carreon. The investigators allegedly used "sexist language," asking if she was "indiscreet" or if she "got to travel because Andy liked you," while failing to interview witnesses who could attest to her character.

"It was a rite of passage to be investigated for having an affair," Carreon's supervisor reportedly told her when she asked for the defamatory investigation to stop.

Carreon, the primary earner for her family, says she was "constructively discharged" in June 2024 after her workplace became intolerable. She is represented by Stowell & Friedman, a firm that has taken up many similar sexual harassment cases in the past.

The lawsuit relies on the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, a law passed in 2022 to ensure these sorts of claims are "adjudicated and redressed through the court system" rather than behind closed doors.