Silence Agreement/Bribe vs. company claims that I was on a leave of absence
Click HERE to view the Silence Agreement/Bribe as well as one of the three certified letters I received in January claiming I was actually on a leave of absence (link is also below).
At the time I left the company, I was told that it was due to “what happened in March”, and when I asked for more details both Robert and Patrick refused to provide.
I was then told I had been an outstanding and successful executive employee of the bank and congratulated for all of the success I had experienced moving low performing teams and territories into the top of the company.
What Happened in March
In March of 2019 Robert held a team meeting in Seattle. At this meeting, the “anonymous” feedback that Robert’s direct reports had provided his Regional Executive onboarding coach had requested 3-6 weeks prior were presented. During this meeting, Robert’s direct reports were presented with the feedback provided around Robert’s leadership without Robert or Chris Briggs present.
The feedback was surprisingly consistent, and there were many references to Chris Briggs as well, which was unsolicited in the original request by Robert’s onboarding coach. I hoped that with the 5+ page deck of consistent feedback from the team, that change would be imminent. However, not only did nothing change after the meeting, but things became worse; specifically the credit card sales pressure to improve Robert and Chris’ ranking which was at the bottom of the company, and their bullying of me including increased pressure to fire minorities. After this meeting, I found out that Robert had been writing other women Market Leaders on the team up similar to myself, claiming low performance (when public reporting showed differently), and working with the men on his team to further their careers and increase pay.
After the first day of meetings in March, dinner and (alcoholic) drinks had been paid for by Robert for everyone on the team at dinner earlier that evening, and several of us decided to meet for a night cap back at the empty hotel bar around 11:30pm. To my knowledge, I was the only one reprimanded for this and when I asked why months later it was being addressed with just myself, I was told by Human Resources that since I was drinking at night between a 2 day off-site meeting where I had to travel to Seattle, it was considered “bank time” and “inappropriate”.
I asked if it would have been different if the 2 day event was in Portland, the city I live in, and I was told that “yes, it would have been different if you were drinking in Portland” since it wouldn’t have been considered an “offsite” meeting for me.
When I asked if anyone else was in trouble as well, I was told that it was none of my business, and instead I was asked if I wanted to file a complaint against any of my co-workers that were there that night. I told them no, no one was doing anything wrong.
*A picture of this late night cap is posted on the blog section titled “The Beginning Started at the End”.
I was then told that I must not speak to anyone about this or I could lose my job. The Human Resources associate told me “I suggest you stop pushing this, I have seen people fired for less.” Disconcerting to say the least.
Division and fear is the best way to control people, and I learned that was exactly what Human Resources is charged with; creating such fear that employees remained isolated, silent, and afraid of their own company.
There’s More
The deadline to sign the Silence Agreement/bribe was December 12th, 2019 yet I was called and emailed repeatedly through January by Human Resources executive Misha (the name on the Silence Agreement/bribe as well as the certified letters claiming I was on a leave of absence) asking me to sign the “agreement”. I was sent three identical certified letters between Friday and Monday in January claiming I was on a leave of absence, and if I did not respond by January 16th, 2019 I “would be terminated”. Huh?
Click here —>to view the Termination/Silence Agreement as well as one of the certified letters claiming I was on a leave of absence.