Might be fired...

[Flipperk]

well guys today played out crappy, I work at a bank and we are under signed oath of not revealing any conf. information to anyone besides the account holders.

Well, this women walks up and says "Hi, I need to make a deposit to my daughters account" I say ok, do you have the account number or name?

She gives me the account number, i find it and I noticed that the account was closed off due to overcharges.

After verifing the ID she was indeed the mother, I told her that the account was closed off and that the daughter needs to come in and take care of the charges, we could not make any deposits into the account

She asked how much does she owe the bank, and this is where I blew it.

I told her how much the account was charged off.


Now I was just trying to help out, but I did violate the conf. agreement that I signed when i took the job 2 months ago ( I am still a new employee)


At the time I thought to myself that I probably should not have said that.

2 hours later we get a call from the daughter, and she is furious. (Sounded like a bimbo, saying like every 3 words)

She says we violated her rights and that she needed to speak with the manager, cussing, ect. So my manager calls me and says that she couldn't believe I told her that and that if she went to corporate with the complaint there was nothing she could do to save me.

_____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ _________________________



Now I am still a new employee what are the chances of me getting fired compared to a warning?

Also if i do get fired because of this, what are the chances of getting another job at a bank or financial institution? Maybe not even listing my current job on my resume?







Thoughts or comments?

[allaire]

I wish you the best, but it sounds like you may be thrown under the bus.  Most places look at saving face rather than going to bat for their employees.  You could always use the argument that it was the mother of the account holder.  The only reason the daughter got so bent out of shape is because her mother probably reamed her good.

[Shuffler]

Not good to hear. But understandable.

Being new it might be put down to poor training. If the girl pushes it, you'll probably get your walking papers.


As for getting a job at another bank. I don't think it would keep you from getting a job. Another bank might write it off as poor training too.

[WilldCrd]

It dont look good from any angle man.
 you violated the #1 rule- cust privacy. Your new and if it was just about any other kind of work you would probably get a slap on the wrist...you might still just get that HOWEVER, you signed a confidentiality agreement. So basically you cant claim that its because your new. In my new job I signed something similer and I can not discuss the system we use or what exactly we find about a individual ie. who it was, what they did ect.

Your new so it may seem like its no big deal but it really is, any business like a bank would loose all credibility with customers over this kind of thing.

[morfiend]

 That would be an HR decision but my wife says it's grounds for immediate dismissal!

 Yes she's a banker and takes customer confidence as the utmost responsibility.

 On the other hand being new you may get off with a warning and permanent blot on your record.

  

[Flipperk]

I pretty much already accepted the fact of being fired, however my next concern would be about getting any other job with banks or financial institutions

[Golfer]

How old is the daughter and is the account still possibly in her/her mothers name?

I have a checking account that still bears my parents names that's remained opened with a small balance since I was about 9 years old.  I used it in college because they could make deposits easily and if the mother can make deposits into the account you may not have done anything wrong.

Beyond that being honest and up front with your superiors is the only way to go.  Be proactive in taking the issue to them and if you asked to see the mothers ID to verify she was who she says she was that's another item to take into account.  Short of that they may allow you to resign possibly in good standing as opposed to being involuntarily terminated which shouldn't be an issue.

Don't try to hide this experience in your future job search.  The future employers will find out and I'd terminate you because you lied or tried to lie about your work history.  I've done it before when an employee lied about an incident that I viewed as nothing but a good learning experience.  When I asked about the situation it was with the intention to provide additional training and support that if you do the job (line service) long enough you'll put airplanes together on accident.  Instead he lied to me and ruined my trust in him resulting in his termination.  To make a short story long, don't lie about it.

Good luck however it shakes out.

[Flipperk]

How old is the daughter and is the account still possibly in her/her mothers name?

I have a checking account that still bears my parents names that's remained opened with a small balance since I was about 9 years old.  I used it in college because they could make deposits easily and if the mother can make deposits into the account you may not have done anything wrong.

Beyond that being honest and up front with your superiors is the only way to go.  Be proactive in taking the issue to them and if you asked to see the mothers ID to verify she was who she says she was that's another item to take into account.  Short of that they may allow you to resign possibly in good standing as opposed to being involuntarily terminated which shouldn't be an issue.

Don't try to hide this experience in your future job search.  The future employers will find out and I'd terminate you because you lied or tried to lie about your work history.  I've done it before when an employee lied about an incident that I viewed as nothing but a good learning experience.  When I asked about the situation it was with the intention to provide additional training and support that if you do the job (line service) long enough you'll put airplanes together on accident.  Instead he lied to me and ruined my trust in him resulting in his termination.  To make a short story long, don't lie about it.

Good luck however it shakes out.

Thats what Im thinking. And yes, I already  checked to see about whos on the account, it was just the daughter from what I could see.

It just sucks, I was just trying to help out but I do understand what I did was a big no no.

Ill be honest with my future employers, your right golfer, best thing to do...im still pretty young, still a learning experience...did not die 

[allaire]

still a learning experience...did not die 

That right there is the thing to keep in mind. It sucks but at least you didn't die or cause death because of it.

[Changeup]

I wouldn't worry about future employment.  EEOC regs allow people to ask if you worked there, when, and would they re-hire you.  They of course will say they won't re-hire you but the potential employer cannot ask why.  If they do ask why and that question is answered, you may feel free to hire any contingency attorney and sue them into next week.  My suggestion, as VP of sales and an interviewer of sales folks, is to do the following:

1) Update your resume as normal
2) When asked why you were at your last position for such a short period, answer honestly that you believed you were dealing with a concerned mother...any reasonable person would want to help a concerned mother....the reasonable man test is passed.  DO NOT LIE about it.

They will KNOW that you understand the confidentiality issues at this point...you got fired for it so that isn't going to be an issue in the future.

This probably worries them from a identity theft perspective as well...the daughter is an idiot for having her bank account closed for overdraft excesses....if she is that broke, she will sue the bank anyway.  That is a crappy lawyer's nirvana...taking that position, you may want to tell your boss that..."we are probably going to be sued anyway...why not put me through additional training, work up an new confidentiality agreement to sign and that will be the actions that the judge sees that you have taken".  It probably won't work but its infinitely less expensive than interviewing, hiring, and training a new employee.

You will be fine sir....it might not hurt to resign either...do it now and write a resignation letter that you can show to your next employer.  That way you were NOT fired.  If they ask why you resigned, be honest...you were manipulated by a customer with malicious intent and didn't want to be a casualty of the bank's lack of understanding the situation.

In truth, you didn't actually violate your contract if I am reading this correctly.  Technically, the daughter was not a customer of the bank...the bank closed her account.  What is the definition of a "customer"...does your contract say "past and current customer's" or just customer.  Perhaps that technicality will allow your supervisor to take PAUSE before letting you go...after all, depending upon the language in the contract, the bank might be getting sued by the daughter AND by you for an unjustified release.  Now, if you live in a right-to-work state like Texas, employers can fire you at will, and without reason. 

Good luck to you,

Changeup

[Chalenge]

The problem isnt you or the mother its a wussified bank manager (that wants to cover her butt and blame you) and a derelict ex-customer. As a manager I would have taken your report of the incident and passed it along 'upstairs' where they would probably notify the legal department.

Now that you know she is like this you probably want to seek other employment anyway.

[allaire]

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in great numbers and with and number of lawyers.

[rabbidrabbit]

Lawyers?  Where is the damages?  I'm not a lawyer but what damages could they seek?  You can't just sue. You have to demonstrate harm.

[batch]

emotional distress is harm enough to sue........ happens successfully everyday

when she opened the account at the bank they were required by law to maintain her confidentiality, (with some exceptions such as debt collection etc)

by breaking this agreement they caused her emotional distress..... as evidenced by her contacting the bank upset

obviously her mother questioned her on the debts and they had an argument which encited her enough to call the bank

as for any damages its highly unlikely she would be compensated in any meaningful amount......... the most likely scenario will be that the bank will writeoff the amount she  is overdrawn and the whole thing will go away

edit: and you will be fired no matter what happens

[Rich46yo]

Lawyers?  Where is the damages?  I'm not a lawyer but what damages could they seek?  You can't just sue. You have to demonstrate harm.

You can sue anyone for anything. At least in this nitwit US civil system.

Personaly I think the daughter is a rat. I would never cause such a fuss to get sombody fired like that. It was a mistake and needed to be corrected by why hurt the guy like that, "yeah I can tell this poster is scared".

At least thats how I feel. I dont believe in hurting a persons employment status unless its a very serious beef.