Royal Bank of Canada on Friday countersued Ken Mason, alleging the former treasury executive used his “close personal relationship” with the bank’s then-CFO to advance within the company.
Mason, whom the bank fired in April, made C$1.18 million in fiscal 2023, the bank said – a 70% jump over his compensation at the time Nadine Ahn was elevated to CFO in November 2021.
When questioned in April by external lawyers on behalf of the bank, Mason said he and Ahn were “work friends,” RBC said in court documents seen by Bloomberg.
Ahn and Mason reiterated as much when each, separately, sued the bank this month for wrongful dismissal, seeking C$48.9 million and C$22 million in pay and damages, respectively. (Ahn, too, was fired in April.)
The bank, however, countersued Ahn, citing text messages between the two, personal mementos kept in Mason’s office, and a whistleblower account claiming the two were more than friends.
Mason told investigators in April that his promotion to vice president and head of capital and term funding was “merit-based,” the bank said Friday.
“This was not true,” RBC said in its filing. “In fact, Mr. Mason’s promotion to Vice President was a centrepiece of ‘Project Ken,’ on which Mr. Mason and Ms. Ahn closely collaborated.”
In a countersuit against Ahn, RBC said “Project Ken” was a name given to a plan Mason drafted in 2017.
Mason’s promotion in November vaulted him over longtime peers, and when senior bank officers – to whom Mason reported – objected, Ahn “overrode” those concerns, RBC said.
“To Mr. Mason’s knowledge, and at his urging, Ms. Ahn misused her power as CFO to bestow significant compensation increases and, ultimately, an executive-level promotion upon Mr. Mason, as part of a ‘Project Ken’ the two were pursuing together while in an undisclosed close personal relationship,” the bank said Friday.
RBC alleges Ahn began advocating for a big pay raise for Mason on the day she became CFO. She expanded Mason’s role as senior leaders left the division — including in ways that led to pay increases, two sources told The Globe and Mail in April.
In its countersuits against the two executives, RBC is seeking to claw back C$4.4 million it paid both Ahn and Mason. That amounts to C$3.3 million in bonuses from Ahn and C$1.14 million in “excess compensation Ms. Ahn caused RBC to pay to Mr. Mason in breach of her fiduciary duties.” The amount could also include compensation owed to another employee, whom Ahn allegedly fired after that person raised concerns about Mason’s pay, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Lawyers for Mason and Ahn did not immediately reply Friday to requests for comment from the wire service.
A representative for RBC declined to comment, pointing to the bank’s earlier statements on the cases.
