Lawsuit claims N.Y. Fed fired regulator who raised questions about Goldman Sachs That finding by the examiner, Carmen Segarra, potentially had serious implications for Goldman, which was already under fire for advising clients on both sides of several multibillion-dollar deals and allegedly putting the bank's own interests above those of its customers. It could have led to closer scrutiny of Goldman by regulators or changes to its business practices. Before she could formalize her findings, Segarra said, the senior New York Fed official who oversees Goldman pressured her to change her view. When she refused, Segarra said she was called to a meeting where bosses told her they no longer trusted her judgment. Her phone was confiscated and security officers marched her out of the Fed's fortress-like building in lower Manhattan just seven months after being hired. "They wanted me to falsify my findings," Segarra said in a recent interview, "and when I wouldn't, they fired me." On Thursday, Segarra filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the New York Fed in the federal court in Manhattan seeking reinstatement and damages. The case provides a detailed look at a key aspect of the post-2008 financial reforms: the work of Fed bank examiners sent to more closely scrutinize the nation's "too-big-to-fail" institutions. Her case comes as the New York Fed wrestles with mandates for tougher regulation amid criticism it is too cozy with the Wall Street mega-banks it oversees. Goldman is known for having close ties with the New York Fed, its primary regulator. The current leader of the New York Fed, William Dudley, is a former Goldman partner. At the time of Segarra's firing, a former chairman of the New York Fed, Stephen Friedman, led the Goldman board's risk committee. In an e-mail, spokesman Jack Gutt said the New York Fed could not respond to detailed questions out of privacy considerations and because supervisory matters are confidential. Gutt said the Fed provides "multiple venues and layers of recourse for employees to freely express concerns about the institutions it supervises." "Such concerns are treated seriously and investigated appropriately with a high degree of independence," he said. Personnel decisions at the New York Fed are based exclusively on individual job performance and are subject to thorough review. We categorically reject any suggestions to the contrary. Dudley would not have been involved in the firing, although he might have been informed after the fact, according to a Fed spokesman. Goldman also declined to respond to detailed questions about Segarra. A spokesman said the bank cannot discuss confidential supervisory matters. He said Goldman "has a comprehensive approach to addressing conflicts through firm-wide and divisional policies and infrastructure" and pointed to a bank document that says Goldman took recent steps to improve management of conflicts.