From: Hank Roth <odin@halcyon.halcyon.com>
Subject: BANDIT TOOK HER MONEY, BANK TOOK HER JOB
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 03:27:35 GMT

<<< via P_news/p.news >>>
{From THE WEEKLY (A Central Florida Independent weekly 
tabloid), January 1, 1993}
BANDIT TOOK HER MONEY...BANK TOOK HER JOB
 
For Ann, what started out as a normal week, quickly turned into a 
nightmare.
 
It was traumatic enough when she became the victim of a bank 
robber. But things got worse when she was fired, as a result of 
the robbery, from her job of three years and eight months as a 
teller at a Bradenton (Fl) bank branch.
 
In the end, Ann found, after checking with attorneys, that she 
had no recourse over her firing due to the "at will" concept of 
employment that Florida recognizes.
 
Furthermore, she discovered that psychological damage she 
suffered in the series of events is not covered by the state's 
workmen's compensation law.
 
The robbery took place during luch hour on a Monday, one of the 
busiest days at the bank, said Ann.
 
"For two hours preceding the robbery, because it involved lunch 
hour, only two tellers were on duty to operate a three-lane 
drive-in and the lobby," recalled Ann. "I did not get to go to 
lunch that day."
 
The robbery took place in the lobby. It was a nerve-wracking 
experience after which detectives assured Ann she had performed 
just as she should. She gave the robber what he wanted, kept her 
cool in order not to excite the robber and let him go out of the 
bank without hurting anyone. [Bank tellers on average only make 
$4.00 an hour in Florida]
 
"The branch manager called the main office to tell them we had 
been robbed," said Ann. "They asked if anyone was injured, how 
much money the robber got and the identity of the teller. I think 
it would have been nice if someone (from the main office) had 
personally spoken to me to see if I was all right."
 
Ann's further troubles began the next day, when it was learned 
that, at the time of the robbery, she had been over her assigned 
cash drawer limit--an infraction of company policy.
 
"As far as I'm concerned, there was nothing I could have done to 
get rid of the cash and comply with company policy.  
 
"If I'd had a lunch hour, I would have had a chance to close down 
and get rid of the cash and checks before I left for lunch, which 
is normal procedure.
 
"Another option would be to discreetly strap the cash during a 
slaow time and sell it to the vault. There was no slow time and 
there was no one there to put it in the vaulgt.
 
"I could also sell it to another teller, but that day she was too 
busy with customers and it may have put her over her limit, in 
which case, she would have had to refuse it."
 
Ann stressed that, even though she was over her assigned cash 
limit, the robber was moving so fast that the money he took did 
not even amount to her usual cash limit.
 
Ann worked Wednesday nervously awaiting some word from the bank's 
manaement. "I thought I would be put on probation," she reasoned, 
"because I was over my limit."
 
"At the close of the day, just as I was getting ready to leave, 
the branch manager called me into her office and sayd (the bank) 
was letting me go. I was numb. It wasn't until I got in my car 
that it hit me, and the anger set in."
 
She contacted a labor attorney, who explained the "at will" 
doctrine, which holds that employee is employed at the will of 
the employer, and the employer does not need any reason to fire 
an employee.
 
"As long as there was no discrimination involved, which is 
federally protected, he said I did not have a case," said Ann. 
"He sent me to a workmen's comp attorney."
 
Ann said she had chest pains. She dreamed about the robbery and 
couldn't eat or sleep. Her doctor, concerned about her level of 
anxiety, gave her a prescription for tranquilizers.
 
"The workmen's comp attorney told me there was nothing I could do 
unless the robber hurt me or made some skin contact," said Ann.
 
Ann said the workemen's compensation attorney told her to contact 
a civil attorney, who also referred to the the concept of "at 
will," and said she had no case.
 
"I have no legal recourse," she pointed out. "I'm left holding 
the bag. I felt morally obligated to cooperate in the pursuit of 
the robber, because I don't want anyone else to go through what I 
did. But in my opinion, (the bank) has shown no moral 
responsibility to me. I'm undergoing more trauma from what they 
did to me than from what the robber did. I was victimized twice--
once by the robber and once by the company."
---------------------------------------------
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