A bank employee was fired by her bosses after giving her own money to a customer in order to help him get home in time for Christmas.
Oregon-based Emily James was working at Portland’s US Bank call center when a customer sought their help because his paycheck was put on hold, meaning he couldn’t get his hard-earned money.
The incident occurred on December 23, just when the man, Marc Eugenio, was trying to reunite with his family.
Since the woman wasn’t able to help him lift the hold, she told him to pay a visit to a local branch on Christmas Eve in an attempt to resolve the issue.
On the following day, Eugenio was once again disappointed as there was no one at the local bank branch to help him take care of his issue in time.
After the distressed customer made another call to the support center, James, who was just miles away from him at the time, decided to give him $20 of her own money to make sure he got home in time. Prior to her detour, she was also granted permission to leave the office by her supervisor.
“I handed him $20 in cash, said ‘Merry Christmas’ and went right back to work,” James said in an interview with The Oregonian.
“I didn’t want her to do it. But I’m not proud to the point that I’m going to refuse help,” Eugenio added.
Just days after New Year’s Eve, however, James was fired by her bosses over her act of kindness.
“They were worried about my safety. He could have kidnapped me or shot me. But I wouldn’t have left or even tried to ask if I thought that this person would hurt me,” she explained.
“Had I known then that I was going to be let go, I would have just removed the hold on the check, because that absolutely would have gotten me fired.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this post with your family and friends and follow us on Facebook for more news and stories!
Replaced!