NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Citigroup ( C/PN ) alleges that a

former managing director suing the bank was fired for

performance reasons, rather than for what she said were attempts

by the bank to give regulators false information.

On Thursday, the bank responded to a lawsuit filed in May by

Kathleen Martin, a former managing director whom Citi hired in

2021 to help with data issues. Martin said in the suit that her

supervisor, Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva, asked her to

hide "critical information" from the Office of the Comptroller

of the Currency about the bank's data-governance metrics.

The lawsuit alleges that Selva wanted to hide information

because it would make the bank "look bad" and said Martin was

fired on Sept. 25, 2023, in retaliation for her complaints.

The data-governance work was related to a 2020 OCC consent

order, according to the lawsuit.

In Citi's filing, the bank said Martin became interim data

transformation chair when she replaced her former supervisor and

mentor Rob Casper, after he left the bank. It said the bank was

already dealing with Martin's performance issues in May 2023,

before the events that Martin alleges were the reason for her

firing.

The bank also alleged that soon after receiving her mid-year

review in July 2023, Martin contacted human resources to say she

thought her position was at risk. In its filing, Citigroup ( C/PN ) said

the director "did not take on the feedback she was provided" and

the bank replaced her in the data transformation chair role.

Martin was part of a group of Citi employees that have been

working to comply with 2020 consent orders by the OCC and the

Federal Reserve and fix deficiencies in its risk management,

data governance and internal controls.

The bank was fined $136 million by the OCC last month for

failing to make progress.

Martin's attorney, Valdi Licul from law firm Wigdor LLP,

told Reuters he was pleased with the bank's response, saying it

signaled the case has legal merit after the bank had previously

filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Licul said he intends to request depositions of senior

Citigroup ( C/PN ) management, including CEO Jane Fraser. "We look

forward to conducting the depositions of Ms. Fraser and Mr.

Selva to show that they fired Ms. Martin only because she

complained about illegal activity," the lawyer added.

Citigroup ( C/PN ) declined to comment beyond its filing.

The case is Martin v. Citibank NA et al, U.S. District

Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-03949.