“Nightmare to Work With Indians” – Citi Bank VP

In a bizarre twist of corporate drama, a former Citi Bank senior VP is suing the company for discrimination — just months after allegedly making a racist remark during an internal interview.

Ann Watson, who served in Citi’s Finance Solutions Group in London, was fired in 2023 after reportedly saying it was a “nightmare” to work with Indians.

The comment was allegedly made during a virtual job interview, directly to a manager of Indian origin. “No offense to you, Kapil, but you know what Indians are like to work with,” she said, according to internal reports.

Watson is now claiming she doesn’t recall making the remark and blames her memory issues on menopause and long COVID. She’s filed a lawsuit accusing Citi of unfair dismissal and workplace discrimination.

Citi, for its part, isn’t buying it.

The bank maintains that health issues don’t excuse racist behavior and is standing by its decision to terminate her employment.

Ironically, many large corporations — including Citi — have strong Indian representation in IT, finance, and leadership roles.

In fact, companies like Citi often rely heavily on Desi professionals to keep their systems running. For someone in senior management to turn around and stereotype that very workforce raises serious questions about bias at the top.

As the case unfolds, it serves as a reminder: in today’s diverse workplace, there’s little room for prejudice — especially when the talent you rely on is the very one being insulted.