A JPMorgan Chase executive who watched her career and reputation get torched by a viral sexual misconduct complaint took her accused tormentor to court Tuesday, filing a defamation lawsuit against the man she says invented every word of it.
Lorna Hajdini, an executive director in JPMorgan’s leveraged finance division, marched into New York State Supreme Court with a legal team and a singular mission: to hold Chirayu Rana accountable for what her attorneys describe as a calculated, months-long scheme to destroy an innocent woman’s life for financial gain.
The lawsuit pulls no punches. Hajdini’s attorneys characterize Rana’s original complaint as “the culmination of a months-long campaign to smear Ms. Hajdini in the workplace, to third parties, the press, and now this court with fabricated assertions.”
The filing declares that Hajdini “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of unlawful conduct” Rana leveled against her.
According to her legal team, the motive behind the smear was not justice — it was money. Her attorneys accused Rana of “peddling his lies that Ms.
Hajdini was a racist, sexual predator” with the goal of using her destroyed reputation “for leverage to extort millions of dollars” from both her and the bank.
The allegations Rana originally made were sensational.
Filing under the anonymizing pseudonym “John Doe” — a label typically reserved for genuine survivors of sexual violence — he accused Hajdini of drugging him, subjecting him to repeated nonconsensual sex acts, and hurling racial slurs at him, including a graphic insult targeting his partner.
Sources told The New York Post that Rana had sought a settlement “north of $20 million” before departing JPMorgan, only to reject the bank’s counteroffer of $1 million and proceed to court instead.
JPMorgan launched an internal investigation and found zero evidence supporting Rana’s claims.
Though other employees cooperated with the review, Rana himself declined to participate or produce a single piece of supporting documentation.
Internal human resources records obtained by The Post confirmed that Hajdini held no authority over Rana’s salary or advancement. The two did not share a management chain and reported to entirely separate directors.
Hajdini’s new lawsuit adds a damaging allegation of its own — that Rana had run a nearly identical playbook at a former employer. “Plaintiff made up eerily similar fabricated allegations of sexual misconduct against a supervisor at a prior place of employment,” the court filing states. The Post had not previously been able to independently verify that claim.
Chatbot transcripts from 2024, attributed to Rana, referenced a workplace incident at Morgan Stanley — four years before he ever set foot at JPMorgan — and described the alleged perpetrator of that incident using a male pronoun.
JPMorgan threw its full weight behind its executive.
“We fully support Lorna and her right to defend herself and protect her reputation,” a bank spokesman said. “As we have said from the outset, we don’t believe the allegations against her or the firm have merit.”
While Hajdini has continued showing up to work throughout the entire ordeal, Rana’s professional life has collapsed around him.
A Rutgers University alumnus with stints at Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Houlihan Lokey, the Carlyle Group, and MidCap Financial — an Apollo Global Management affiliate where insiders say he was “managed out” after just six months — Rana joined JPMorgan’s leveraged finance team in the spring of 2024.
He departed his most recent position at investment firm Bregal Sagemount on April 2. Company insiders said he had failed to make an impression on leadership.
A firm representative confirmed only that “he is no longer an employee.” His biography remained visible on the company’s website. He filed his original lawsuit just 26 days after walking out the door.
Rana’s credibility absorbed another direct hit when The Post revealed he had told JPMorgan supervisors that his father had passed away — a claim that allowed him to chain together bereavement and other leave arrangements stretching from fall 2024 through May of last year.
A Post reporter later found Chaitanya Rana very much alive at his Fairfax, Virginia home. The family patriarch told the outlet his son “was a good guy.”
Hajdini, a 15-year JPMorgan veteran and NYU Stern School of Business graduate, volunteers with a nonprofit supporting low-income college hopefuls and spends personal time studying for sommelier certification.
Her attorneys state she never visited several locations where Rana claimed assaults took place and never engaged in any inappropriate conduct with him whatsoever.
“Ms. Hajdini seeks to vindicate her name, mitigate the substantial damage inflicted upon her, and hold plaintiff accountable for his depraved and unlawful conduct,” her legal filing states.
Rana’s attorney, Daniel J. Kaiser, had not responded to requests for comment.
