I'M AFRAID I'M GOING TO GET SUED! NEED ADVICE!
NCBANKER
16 Posts
With the rate drop, the mortgage industry in my area has taken a tumble. I had to let go of a processor, "Jane" that was doing an excellent job, I thought alot of her, but she was the newest of the least experienced and that is why she was chosen to be let go.
I am the Area Manager, I work inside of a branch, so my Branch Manager is also in the same branch. However, "Jane" desk is right outside of my office.
We were supposed to let go several people on Friday, but for some strange and odd reason, our computer support people terminated her password a day early, which put me in a very difficult position. I was completely blindsided, and not prepared. I had not yet received their final paychecks from corporate, nothing.
"Jane" popped her head in my office and asked if she was "fired and no one told her" because her password wasn't working, as if it was a joke. I about died because I knew what had occurred. THE MISTAKE that I think I made, was that I said as a kneejerk reaction, "Of course not..that's ridiculous"..sincerely thinking it was a computer glitch, but only for that day. I told her I would see what I could do to fix it.
I shut my door and called my Branch Manager and told him that he needed to terminate her immediately because obviously something had got messed up at our Help Desk and there was no way I could fix it to get her through the day.
It was 30 minutes before I could reach someone to find out what I needed to do because I didn't have her termination paperwork, as it was supposed to come from corporate. In that 30 minutes, "Jane" had went to several other co-workers to offer assistance in the meantime and said, "I guess the system fired me" and laughed, and mentioned that she had just spoken to me and I had assured her it was a mistake.
When we got our ducks in a row, by now it's 9:00 and everyone is in the office, the Branch Manager calls her in and tells her that she is being laid off, was elibile for rehire, etc.
She bursts into tears, but was not making a scene, but unfortuantely, it was obvious to the rest of the employees that she had just been let go. The Branch Manager had to escort her to clean out her desk and then out of the building. Several employees had called her during the day, and at lunch, and she told them what happened. She was never instructed not to mention the incident to anyone, but now everyone is wondering if more layoffs were coming.
I'M AFRAID OF BEING SUED NOW, because she is telling everyone how humiliated she was. She isn't bashing the company in any way, suprisingly, or management. She just said she was upset because I should have told her, and that I lied to her (which I did, and made a mistake in doing that) but I was just having her to go to who was in charge of the Branch. If she was in any other Branch, I wouldn't have been present at all.
I DIDN'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN THIS WAY! I was fully planning on having her come in early tomorrow so all of this could happen in private, and she could tell people that she decided to quit if she wanted to. I'm still afraid that her humiliation will turn to anger and I can be sued because of the way I handled it.
She is a great employee, and I wished I could have kept her, but she needed a job very badly, but there was nothing I could do. Job market is tight right now, and she is afraid of not being able to find another job.
I am the Area Manager, I work inside of a branch, so my Branch Manager is also in the same branch. However, "Jane" desk is right outside of my office.
We were supposed to let go several people on Friday, but for some strange and odd reason, our computer support people terminated her password a day early, which put me in a very difficult position. I was completely blindsided, and not prepared. I had not yet received their final paychecks from corporate, nothing.
"Jane" popped her head in my office and asked if she was "fired and no one told her" because her password wasn't working, as if it was a joke. I about died because I knew what had occurred. THE MISTAKE that I think I made, was that I said as a kneejerk reaction, "Of course not..that's ridiculous"..sincerely thinking it was a computer glitch, but only for that day. I told her I would see what I could do to fix it.
I shut my door and called my Branch Manager and told him that he needed to terminate her immediately because obviously something had got messed up at our Help Desk and there was no way I could fix it to get her through the day.
It was 30 minutes before I could reach someone to find out what I needed to do because I didn't have her termination paperwork, as it was supposed to come from corporate. In that 30 minutes, "Jane" had went to several other co-workers to offer assistance in the meantime and said, "I guess the system fired me" and laughed, and mentioned that she had just spoken to me and I had assured her it was a mistake.
When we got our ducks in a row, by now it's 9:00 and everyone is in the office, the Branch Manager calls her in and tells her that she is being laid off, was elibile for rehire, etc.
She bursts into tears, but was not making a scene, but unfortuantely, it was obvious to the rest of the employees that she had just been let go. The Branch Manager had to escort her to clean out her desk and then out of the building. Several employees had called her during the day, and at lunch, and she told them what happened. She was never instructed not to mention the incident to anyone, but now everyone is wondering if more layoffs were coming.
I'M AFRAID OF BEING SUED NOW, because she is telling everyone how humiliated she was. She isn't bashing the company in any way, suprisingly, or management. She just said she was upset because I should have told her, and that I lied to her (which I did, and made a mistake in doing that) but I was just having her to go to who was in charge of the Branch. If she was in any other Branch, I wouldn't have been present at all.
I DIDN'T WANT IT TO HAPPEN THIS WAY! I was fully planning on having her come in early tomorrow so all of this could happen in private, and she could tell people that she decided to quit if she wanted to. I'm still afraid that her humiliation will turn to anger and I can be sued because of the way I handled it.
She is a great employee, and I wished I could have kept her, but she needed a job very badly, but there was nothing I could do. Job market is tight right now, and she is afraid of not being able to find another job.
Comments
If, in fact, others are being let go in your branch, there are several things you should consider trying to mitigate. You have the morale and human side of the process with respect to your staff; you may have security issues with respect to the various files in process or other sensitive data; you may have exposure to "losing" mortgage files in process to your competition if any of your producers and processors can take business with them. Brush up on your non-compete agreements, if any, and look to corporate for help with whatever parachutes they can offer to soften the landing.
Good luck.