Fired!

you can work for my firm, as long as you have the MP3 hookup. can you hook up the latest jay-z track?

I am assuming that the songs were illegally downloaded. Then I can see it happening (not really, but kind of). Right?

wtf

That really sucks, man. What is your next step?

At least you have people that will vouch for you. Good luck I hope you get something new very soon!

My father works at UPS and he downloaded some music on his computer at work, and they threatened him with his job, and he is a regional manager. They do not mess around with that kind of stuff cause they can fines up the ass. That is unfortunate.

Is even iTunes against corporate policy? It's perfectly legal to buy songs from iTunes.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-

wow that really sucks. Must have been illegal downloading right? Did you try to apologize and say you weren't aware/ ask for that manager to vouch for you...

Oh well, lots of people got fucked this year. Seemed like a awesome job too...

I'm really sorry to hear that... I hope it all works out for the best...

I seem to get the impression that banks are looking for the slightest excuse to fire people in the current market environment...

Wow. Thanks for the heads-up at least, really sorry to hear about that. Good news is that a lot of RE PE shops (yeah, smaller ones but nice pay potential) seem to be hiring right now.

A friend of mine from a BB RE PE shop was recently fired and got another job about 3 weeks after, securing 5-8 interviews in just 2 days. He upped his base to a 100, with higher bonus prospects too. I believe he used basic professional sites, ie. monster etc.

Best of luck.

While I do feel terrible and do not believe you should have been fired over this without some sort of a warning ... What were you thinking? Illegally downloading music using a corporate computer? Not only that, but if you were doing so illegally then I assume you were using a standard downloading program like LimeWire. These sites are full of bogus files with viruses attached to them.

Again, I'm not saying the bank's action was justified, but I think you exercised some pretty poor judgment on this one.

God, these stories make me love my job even more...I'm not sure if I would enjoy a strict corporate environment with a structured hierarchy and stringent code of conduct.

Are all banking environments so much fun?!

that's terrible. were you using a file-sharing program like limewire/bearshare?

Yep I used limewire, which was the main issue, but corporate network is secure so any confidential info was absolutely safe.

I did not know that downloading from P2P programs was illegal. I also mentioned to my managers that I had music files downloaded on my computer and they thought it was completely ok and gave me no caution to delete them (tons of people have music on their computers too).

HR identified me through a random search. They asked me if I knew that these files could contain viruses and encrypted files and I said absolutely not. When they came in to talk to me it was 2 people, in their mid or late 40's. These people didn't know about limewire, or have any clue about current technology. They don't know that every college kid in america downloads music. They totally out of touch with our generation, so when I explained everything to them they just didn't get it. They thought I was some sort of hacker and that limewire is some new crazy advanced hacking program. And like I said before, I received ZERO warning whatsoever.

Next step for me is to find another job. This one was ok, but working PE within a bank is not so cool, its much better to work within your own fund. I will definitely move on to something with less of a corporate-type culture. Moral of this story is that if this company is dumb enough to fire a good employee for something like this, then its not good company to work for.

That's extremely unfair, I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to you. If they had an issue with music downloading, the appropriate thing to do would be just giving you a warning.

Hope you find something soon.

This really sucks! It's really unfair

"they fire people for watching youtube, or for personal calls, so this really doesn't surprise me."

Seriously?

Half of the damn trading floor at my bank would be gone....

They don't fire everyone who watches youtube at their desk, nor everyone who makes a personal call at their desk. But they do fire people who do so.

The point was they fire people for much more trivial things.

Powermonkey's got the right idea for the most part, if a little brutal on the whole. I'd say banks are a wee bit more liberal about the personal usage of computers that they let you get away with, since they restrict the accessible sites, the computers (usually) must always be on the network, and since you're in the office for most of the day. I'm talking about surfing the web, specifically.

I would think anyone with half a brain would have totally given up on limewire and even bitorrent for music and movies, though, especially with all the pre-lit settlement letters and such going around. Don't people realize that just about every "free" p2p network has been completely compromised by the RIAA and MPAA? A not insignificant portion of the files have been uploaded by just those groups so that they can track precisely who is downloading. Unless you really are computer savvy and know how to protect yourself, give up on getting the stuff for free until the next big thing hits and the watchdog groups are left with their d*&^s in their hands playing catch-up. Seriously, was even a few hundred dollars worth of music worth getting fired?

Why didn't you just bring your IPOD into work with a few speakers and jam that way...

Best of luck with your future. Your bank is silly and sounds pathetically out of touch.

Sorry to hear this but I agree that people might get fired for trivial things especially at times like this. Good luck.

for some reason i don't have much sympathy for you. You aren't a kid anymore, I guess you lacked sense of professionalism for the real world. There's black and white policy against what you've done. Haven't you been told in your very first day at bank that what you've done is a big "no no"? i don't find this an overkill. It does seriously open up serious potential liability in terms of litigation against the firm. But worse yet, confidential data being leaked out of your computer.

The security system is as strong as its weakest link. In this case you were a pretty rusted link that jeapordize the whole link.

better luck next time buddy.

bet it was Lehman

Tell us how your job search goes.

still i think he deserves sympathy b/c he just lost his job. i still remember when my uncle lost his job for some stupid reason and i remember his misery. Sorry to hear that REBanker. I hope you get an even better job with better prestige/pay/lifestyle/HR. Can you ask your firm for reconsidering their decision by really explaining that you meant no harm or were unaware and are deeply sorry for your actions, something of that nature? But don't be sad man, you'll probably look at this experience in 10/15 years as a joke to tell your kids.

That sucks. I would feel horrible if the same thing happened to me. Downloading the music wasn't a good call, but comon. You deserved a warning - I really hope you find something better asap.

Anyone have any good headhunter contacts?

REbanker: why not hire a lawyer?

did they actually fire you or was it more like they terminated your contract... (if its the latter, then I'm sure you would have gotten decent sev and your manager would put in a good word for you).

you can't go around terminating people for whatever reason. i doubt they put "LimeWire" in the contract... you can easily argue that you thought it was a legitimate use of technology (akin to listening to online radio, etc.) and the fact that other analysts had used it makes it legitimate.

You can fire someone for any reason you want.

As PowerMonkey said:

"[you are an] At will employment. They could fire you because they don't like the way you dress today if they so felt. Probably not a good idea for them to do so since they might have to justify it, but possible."

Exactly, we are not in Europe where the employment laws protect the employed. Here, it's hire and fire. Knowing that, bankers should NEVER EVER show loyalty to a bank. they won't look out for you when crap happens, you don't need to look out for them too.

Of course you can fire at your will, but you may have to pay money.

There is an implied contract between an employer and an employee... when you break contracts, you have to pay expectation damages, etc.

If the employee breaks the contract (by using limewire contary to the terms of the contract), then the employer can fire the employee (and alos seek pecuniary damages, etc.)

it happens all the time especially with senior management. its not about "employee standards" its just common law.

though i agree with you.. in europe there are a lot of socialist type labour laws (something like a 35 hour work week?)

No, you're wrong. Companies use severances for good will tactics typically, and for lay offs that lack any cause. If there is ANY reason, they can fire you with absolutely no money.

My mother was in senior management at a fortune500 company and was flown to NY, walked into the room and was told that "they no longer feel her experience is capable of handling her responsibilities". Obviously the biggest BS reason I have ever heard, but after 14 years with the company, she did not get a penny.

There is absolutely no requirement to pay severance or damages unless it's stated in the contract - look at the terms of your offer contract. Did you see any damages or severance fee type clauses? No.

And Niles - damages arise only if the bank is in breach of contract. In this case, there is no breach of contract because it's employment at will. If so, the case for damages don't even arise.

I see... then its different down south eh?

sheesh, thats real bad pal. 14 years... terrible. But I guess its free markets right.

still, sometimes, doesn't hurt to go see a lawyer and see if he/she can help you out.