Two Weeks Before Bonus - Unsure how to Move Forward

Was said intern below the age of 21? The strong language thing seems to be bs though. I feel like I hear so many people say retard and other "slurs" in the office these days, unless you were using worse language

Did you do anything at all that could be construed as inappropriate or was this totally random? Might be worth calling an employment lawyer to get his advice.

so it was ur intern? im so lost lol cant even imagine how you feel that sucks bro fr

one of those juniors was out to get you

OP here’s what i would do. Seek legal advice and hire a lawyer. None of us are lawyers but chances are you may have been sandbagged and you may have had your employment rights violated. Don’t sign anything if they offered severance - speak to a lawyer. (deleted the rest of my comment).

I echo the advice to lawyer up. You can find someone who will take it on contingency (likely 33% of what you recover). Especially if this was done just prior to bonus. I’ve held my ground with a couple of firms ranging from a BB bank to LMM PE firm and have found that most often they’re bluffing hoping that you won’t call them on their BS. To be fair, most people won’t and will turn their cheek. I would stand your ground here and push back. Especially if there’s no prior paper trail of this behavior from you and potentially worse behavior from others at the firm who did not get terminated. 

This thread is Exhibit A for why I stopped mentoring and interacting with juniors. So many cowards in the ranks these days.

What a pussy intern. Should be blacklisted from the industry.

Lawyer up dude. Them backtracking means you’ve already won. Saying they’d fire you for cause is a big deal and if they don’t have an airtight paper trail that ties you to a for cause expense then they’ve really screwed up. And from the sound of it, they don’t. 
Don’t respond to them until you’ve spoke with counsel, they can’t put any clocks on this because then they’d be threatening a bogus for clause and attempting to pressure you into signing a release.

On top of that, even if they fired you for cause, they can’t tell your future employers or risk you suing for defamation short of you being caught on camera for sexual assault. They’ve really stepped in it and they know which is why they’re now trying to get you to resign and offering to give you neutral references.

My disdain for DEI is exactly for this reason. It prioritizes women to the point that they feel they can get away with “murder” and that senior bankers (whose bonuses are tied to female retention) aid and facilitate this behavior as long as the aggrieved party is a junior male banker. 

If you guys don’t fight back against Beckies, your generation will be reduced to a laughing stock. The old farts at the top have sold you over and you will be miserable with no opportunities with Beckies flooding the upper ranks. Make no mistake, this is not equality or performance, this is by design to keep older farts at the top in power and reduce competition. Don’t let them mistreat you. 

I have friends who similar things happened to at big banks. Unfortunately there are some callous, bad people and snitches across all types of companies, especially in HR / assistants, who don't (aren't smart enough to) think about the long-term ramifications of going after people's livelihoods. We live in a world where people have incentive to report each other, underperforming or problematic employees (esp. women) can eliminate their competition or protect themselves from getting fired for an extended period (in short term, employer would be scared of a lawsuit after firing the reporting person as they could claim company retaliated against them etc.)

Companies also extremely politically correct / publicity conscious, they don't have mercy on their employees especially if they are junior. 

You should do the following immediately:

• Do not try to appeal with HR or your boss; they do not care about you and are not going to change the decision out of kindness or pity, this is 10x true if you are a junior person who does not make the company money. Waste of your time and energy
• Hire a lawyer with an expertise in finance industry and do not sign any severance agreement. Only you know all the facts and that lawyer can tell you whether you have leverage against your company; this doesn't mean you will be in the news unless you escalate it to the point of a lawsuit (and even then, probably not)
  • Talk to this lawyer about fighting your firm re: the language they put on the U5 form (a regulatory requirement for your firm to file anytime you leave a bank, quitting or termination). If they put something very damning (e.g. belligerently intoxicated / substance abuse / harassment of some kind / 'illegal activity' of underage drinking, etc.) it could permanently impair your career in the industry, you have a brief window to fight it before the firm files the form with FINRA. 

Good luck and very sorry you are going through this. Many of these big corporates are corrupt and heinously PC. They just do the easy, convenient thing for themselves which is fire commodities like you, as sad as that is. 

FWIW, the people I knew were able to bounce back and get to good firms after a brief stint outside of finance, granted in a much better job market.

Look at the hypocrisy of senior management. Head of HR and CEO having an affair, yet the virtue signalling that junior males have to put up with. 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/coldplay-kiss-cam-exposes-astronomer-142620411.html

Hey man, I'm so sorry to hear this. I was also (unofficially) fired for something retarded with similar dynamics (strong language, unlucky alcohol situation, ugly fucking bitch co-worker tattling for something extremely minor, etc.). I don't usually comment, but I know this is a rough situation and have been through this personally.

In my case, my firm "laid me off," but everyone knew that it was a cover-up.

Brutally honest truth: These next few months will be a mindfuck. Being fired/laid off is a special kind of hell and it requires a ton of mental strength to get back on your feet. Some days you'll really feel like you want everything to end, but I promise if you're mentally strong, you'll get through it.

I can't give you much advice on the lawyer part since, unfortunately, I couldn't go that route due to the structure of my termination, but just some things that come to mind:

• If you do voluntarily resign, I would structure the story as a layoff/you quitting due to X reason. You can't be fully transparent with what happened. While many on WSO are sympathetic and think your former colleague is a bitch, it would be difficult for a staffer/interviewer to explain your situation to his/her higher-ups and not look like an idiot. Separately, your previous firm can't disclose any details surrounding your termination. HOWEVER, informal inquiries (e.g., the staffer in a group you're interviewing with knows your former VP and asks about the layoff in your former group/why your quit) can happen and is common since finance is a small world. As such, consider switching coverage/product areas and even cities to hedge against that risk. While this seems dramatic, it's worth it and will provide protection.
• Your FINRA will still say that you're working at the firm for another 2-3 more weeks until your U5 is finalized and submitted. If you want to risk it, you can pretend like you're still employed and start interviewing NOW. Keep in mind, this is risky and you can get an offer rescinded/blacklisted because of this, but you can also land something assuming you get an offer in 2-3 weeks; anything beyond this, though, you're gonna have to come clean. Reach out to all groups that're currently hiring now if you proceed with this.
• Make sure that your story and the stories your references tell are aligned, otherwise you will look sketchy. Ensure they're aligned with the reason you give for leaving, your strengths and weaknesses are, etc.
• If you're looking to leave high-finance and go into corpdev or something similar, you can gamble and say you're still employed. While you can get caught, it is way less likely than if you were to do this in IB since the background check processes at these firms are not nearly as stringent (since there is no FINRA association). Again, try at your own risk (high probability of working, though).
• Avoid people who make fun of you for what happened. Your mental health will suffer greatly over the next few months. No need to make it worse.
• Conserve cash
• Exercise 5x a week

General advice to everyone reading:

• Don't ever get close with female co-workers (just use Hinge and don't be creepy/look like shit). Even if your female colleagues seem cool and try to convince you that they wanna be your friend, don't fall for their shit. Ignore them at all costs. If you can't pull women outside of work, you're a loser and should fix that.
• Avoid the sensitive crowds (i.e., women, Indians, vocal URM, LBGT ABCDEFG, liberals, etc.) at work
• Never voice your opinions/personal beliefs at work (if you are on the wrong side, you will be fired)
• 1 drink max at happy hour
• Don't interact with your colleagues more than what is necessary (unless you absolutely know this person won't fuck you later)

I will update this as I think of things.

Best of luck OP. I am rooting for you! Keep us updated.

This is crazy. When I was a summer analyst, I had an associate who fucking berated me daily while everyone else on the team was chill with me. Another associate told me I didn't convert because this dude talked shit to the MD about me. 

I wish I reported that fuck to HR now... haha

This is not legal advice but it sounds like they have no evidence against you beyond an unsubstantiated claim?

It would have been safer to avoid contact to see their formal reasoning while waiting to get their statement in writing. Beyond that point now. From this point you need to start asking them to contact you in writing going forward. Don't say anything more. 

A lawyer is a good idea but for a few different reasons than what may have been mentioned already. 

U5 language can be a liability for your employer. So your priority is for your U5 to stay clean now, the best way is to negotiate the terms, you'll want professional help with that. You might also want to negotiate staying employed on paper while you search for a new role. 

I feel they offered to let you resign because they figure you're going to be too intimidated or they can't show firm evidence against you. GL either way.

you learned an early lesson in life as a male in corporate America in clown world 2025

 "DON'T INTERACT WITH GIRLS IN THE OFFICE OUTSIDE WORK DISCUSSIONS"

its not worth it anymore.  they brought it upon themselves ("believe all women" etc)

Hope they enjoy the fact most men now refuse to network with girls, grab drinks with them after work, hang out on work trips, or generally bring one in close as a close mentee or mentor.  NOPE - not in 2025

good luck climbing the corporate ladder when everyone is afraid to talk to you or mentor you.... 

Make sure you fight this bro - like others have said, this has gone too far and we can't continue letting DEI/beckies take over social structures. Our kids are going to disappointed in us if we don't attempt to fight it. System is rotten to the core - the seniors are compensated based on quotas

On a side note; friendly piece of advice for men in corporate: DO NOT ENGAGE WITH WOMEN AT WORK BEYOND THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM REQUIRED. This means no banter, no jokes, no after work drinks

The upper echelons are being flooded by DEI Beckies and their allies. The only way to stop this is for male juniors (all colors) to unite as you have the same corporate “enemy”. They are being provided a leg up on you and their facilitators are after your future.  

Can anyone summarize what happened here? Seems like OP edited a bunch of her comments and it’s all disparate now 

Disgusting how vile f*minists / Beckies are trying to confuse the audience. 

At the onset, OP clarified he is male, the intern was male, and the snitchy analyst was female. She complained about OP to HR and then coerced the intern too. HR fired OP without investigation and the opportunity to come clean. When OP pushed back, HR retreated and were willing to let him resign meaning their evidence wasn’t concrete. 

As far as the offence is concerned, it revolved around OP allegedly encouraging the intern to drink excessively during a happy hour and paying for those drinks. The female analyst recognized OP as a threat for promotion and snitched to get him out of the way. 

Most buyside places wouldn’t check or have access to your U5. You could probably recruit for LMM buyside roles and just say you dipped after bonuses, especially if you were an An2. Massively helpful if you can get a reference too. 

For other banking roles though you’ll have to be a bit more honest because they’ll see your U5. Wouldn’t volunteer the information other than something like you performed well and had great reviews but ultimately separated independent of your performance and you can provide a reference 

Know 2 people fired for performance actually. 1 of them was treated as a layoff but the other was straight up fired for cause. Both managed to get buyside roles. 

Keep your chin up. You’re going to feel like shit for a while, and that’s natural and okay. But eventually you’ll make it out of this. You’re a smart kid, that’s why you got this job in the first place. 

It is evident that these female juniors can’t be trusted in the pit. This is among the several recent instances where I have observed a female junior sabotaging a promising male junior to eliminate competition and/or personal vendetta. 

Unfortunately, they are abusing the special mentorship senior bankers are offering. Onwards, I won’t be pursuing any 1-on-1 mentoring sessions / special accommodations on files for them. Enough is enough.