A top executive at a Wall Street hedge fund was fired after he impregnated a low-level female subordinate and then lied about it — and also exposed his genitals to other workers, according to a bombshell lawsuit.
William Christian, who was chief operating officer at GoldenTree Asset Management from 2004 until 2020, also had his pants pulled down while meeting with employees face to face, according to an arbitrator who was hired to settle a dispute over pay.
“Christian subjected employees to in-person meetings and conversations while his pants were pulled down to his ankles,” according to testimony in court papers.
The former COO claimed that he had his pants around his ankles because he “needed to ice his knees.”
According to court documents obtained by Business Insider, Christian also made “disgusting sexual comments” and “frequent and gratuitous insults” to colleagues at the firm.
The Post has sought comment from Christian and GoldenTree Asset Management.
Christian also “showed at least one subordinate a picture of his exposed genitals,” it was alleged.
He also “admitted turning on pornography at least briefly on a television in a hotel room full of GoldenTree employees.”
One assistant alleged that Christian asked her to buy biking gear for him on what looked like a pornographic web site.
“In sum, he created a hostile work environment,” the arbitrator, Mike Segall, wrote.
Christian was also alleged to have falsified expense reports and mistreated assistants.
After he was fired in 2020, Christian and GoldenTree went to arbitration after the company refused his demand for a $5 million severance payout. Instead, GoldenTree wanted to claw back some $13 million.
Eventually, Segall awarded Christian $1.2 million, but the former executive wasn’t satisfied with the ruling. He took GoldenTree to court in an effort to force the company to pay the balance.
In court papers, the company alleges that Christian flew the junior-level female employee that he impregnated to Madrid, where he took her to dinner. It is alleged that Christian then billed the company even though the trip to Spain had no work-related purpose.
In total, Christian is alleged to have improperly expensed the company at least 15 times for meals.
It was alleged that company employees knew about Christian’s relationship with the subordinate, including her manager, who wanted to discipline her but was prevented from doing so because of Christian’s more senior position.
GoldenTree, which was founded by billionaire Steven Tananbaum, has $46 billion in assets under its management.