The CEO of ANZ Bank Shayne Elliott has publicly apologized to a former employee who was interrogated in New York by the bank's legal team regarding her sexual history. Elliott described the legal team's interrogation as "wrong and not acceptable". The ANZ CEO tweeted the apology Saturday following calls for him to rectify the incident from customers who threatened to change to other banks.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I apologise. This is wrong & not acceptable. We were not aware of our external NY lawyers strategy & should have been. We have instructed them that this is not to be used during trial & and I will apologise to the complainant personally.</p>— Shayne Elliott (@ElliottShayne) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliottShayne/status/1020471988580540416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Saturday Elliott wrote on Twitter, "I apologise. This is wrong & not acceptable. We were not aware of our external NY lawyers [sic] strategy & should have been. We have instructed them that this is not to be used during trial & and [sic] I will apologise to the complainant personally." His apology came after it was revealed that the bank's legal team forced a former employee to recount details of her sexual assault.
The employee's sexual assault occurred when she was at college years earlier and she was required to state whether she had any sexually transmitted diseases. The interrogation occurred last year during a deposition in relation to the former senior ANZ trader's claim she was subject to sexual and racial harassment while employed at ANZ bank in New York. Elliott elaborated on the situation on Twitter stating the line of questioning was conducted by people "acting in his interests".
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I agree. I am not defending that in the least. It was wrong. We were wrong. Our people and our lawyers were wrong. A serious line was crossed as you say.</p>— Shayne Elliott (@ElliottShayne) <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliottShayne/status/1020493340741996544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">No one from ANZ was briefed on the tactics and strategy? I find that hard to believe. Is it standard practice for corporations to give law firms carte blanche when dealing with these scenarios?</p>— Michael Smith (@MichaeS72) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaeS72/status/1020482579617550338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Elliott did not dispute claims that the questioning was tantamount to "emotional abuse" or "infliction of trauma". He added, "I am not defending that in the least. It was wrong. We were wrong. Our people and our lawyers were wrong. A serious line was crossed." The bank will also publicly and privately apologize to the woman, according to the ANZ CEO. The transcript of the former employee's deposition was released last month as part of an ongoing multi-million dollar workplace discrimination claim filed against the bank's CEO and its head of corporate sales America Ravi Nursey.
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Do it's okay for women to anonymously charge men with decades-old sex crimes, but wrong for men to ask their accusers any questions? On what planet?