(Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit by a former senior data compliance official who accused it of firing her for refusing to mislead a regulator about the bank’s data governance practices. 

Kathleen Martin was “lawfully and legitimately terminated after it was determined that she lacked the requisite leadership and engagement skills” for her role, the bank’s lawyers wrote in a filing Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.  

Martin sued the bank last month claiming that Chief Operating Officer Anand Selvakesari asked her to hide important information about the bank’s metrics from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency so Citigroup wouldn’t “look bad.” 

In its filing, the bank argues that the retaliation claim must be thrown out because Martin didn’t report a “reasonable belief” that it had violated a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act such as mail, wire, bank or securities fraud. Martin has sought protection under that law. 

The bank hired Martin in 2021 to help avoid future legal problems after the OCC imposed a $400 million fine over its data governance practices, according to her complaint. Martin claimed that Selvakesari pressured her to falsely tell the board and regulators that the bank had hit certain goals. She said she was fired after she pushed back, even though internal documents show she was an “exemplary” performer who exceeded expectations.

Citigroup denies the claims in its filing.

Martin previously worked in senior roles at other big Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, according to her LinkedIn page. She said in her lawsuit that she was reluctant to leave JPMorgan but that Citigroup assured her she would be given “a long-term leadership position.” 

After starting as a chief administrative officer, she was promoted to interim data transformation chair, having helped the bank come up with a plan to comply with the OCC’s requirements in the data governance case.

The case is Kathleen Martin v. Citibank N.A., 24-cv-03949, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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