Can Personal Issues Get In The Way?

Yikes

He deserved a fight, however, would fighting him be worth risking a criminal record? And risking a finance career? Likely not.

Good on you for not fighting back, at the same time do your best to protect your mom and your siblings.

My advice would be milk the position as long as you can. If you feel you aren't advancing due to things outside of performance start looking for new positions. Throughout your career, and your life, you will find that friends may become enemies, and that enemies may become friends. Just try to do your best.

I don't think you have a good case for wrongful termination/retaliation, but it would probably be easiest for all parties involved to let you re-recruit to a peer institution vs. having you try to litigate this.

OP, since you are worried about this (and will continue to be as long as you are at the firm), I suggest lateraling to an equally great firm so that you don't have to deal with that potential tension or worry of having an "enemy" in your company.

I would find a mentor, who is influential at the company you summered at and explain the situation to him. If he really liked you, he'll surely have strong contacts that a referral could go very far to help you out.

Take the job = no downside

Figure it out as you go. Head of that BB? As in group or Jamie Dimon like head? I assume it's going to be group, in which case you can lateral within the same bank (hard to do). Easier to do will be to move to another bank or just go work in PE after your two year stint if you are in M&A. Regardless if your direct team likes you you'll be fine. Your comp might be affected, but you are early on in your life. He won't ask the guys to fire you for personal reason, it would look awful on him.

I’m not a fan of our overly litigious culture, but this is case where you can clearly use it to your advantage.

If they fire you / rescind your offer, contact an employment lawyer, in fact you should probably do so now. This loser has a lot on the line and won’t want to risk what happened becoming public. I hate frivolous lawsuits, but this would not be one of them. Even if it becomes public, the facts here won’t blackball you from other companies.

Edit: take the job but have the backup lawyer plan in place.

My take on this would be

First off you did a great job showing restraint, as others have pointed out, that might've been the end of some of our careers if we were in that position.

If you take the job best case is that degenerate's equally moronic brother will at least show a shred of human decency and try to understand your position. (You very loosely defined his position at the BB, I'm guessing hes no Jamie or Lloyd. In that case I'm sure he wouldn't want to risk firing you for no reason and as others have pointed out you might be able to lateral in the bank.)

Worst case is he gives you a hard time / fires you / rescinds your offer. In which case you will likely be fine. Apply for other jobs. With your performance and experience as a BB SA, you'll likely be able to get at least one other IB gig (especially if you were top of your class in ranking as you stated above. Once you've interned, you're "not so great" application is less of a hindrance. If you did a good job / learned a lot / can orate that well in interviews, you'll be set.

Either way, I feel for you and once again good job showing restraint.

Edit: Grammar

I think you should try for a different bank if possible. Otherwise you’ll always have this threat hanging over your head, even if it never materializes. But then again I’m very risk averse

Also, don’t cut ties with your mother. In terms of people remaining in abusive relationships, watch this for some food for thought:

Your step dad is likely a loser while his brother (the dude that runs the BB) is not. His brother is probably fully aware of how much of a loser your step dad is and he likely isn't interested in getting bogged down in his personal drama. He probably understands your situation and sympathizes. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Focus on working hard and doing a good job. Plus you could sue (depending on state) for being dismisses on these grounds.

Simple battery charge will ruin you forever.

Buddy just got denied from a BG check cause of a battery misdemeanor ($1500 bail) on his record from NYE. He pushed a dude, that was it. Literally, pushed him...that's all.

Wanna Be Hardo:

SUPER PERSONAL STORY COMING:

Man married my mother a decade ago. His brother helped me land a SA position (I likely did not deserve) at a BB because he is the head of that BB. Was offered a full-time position. Signed. Man who married my mother (was heavily intoxicated) tried to physically assault me (swung multiple times however could not land effectively), I called the police, they did nothing as there were no marks on me. I moved out. I am no longer in contact with either my mother or step-father (own my own behalf, step-father hates me for having the police called on him, and I no longer speak to my mother due to her remaining with a man who is physically abusive (to both me, and my younger siblings (I have multiple younger brothers))).

This man's brother was already not tremendously fond of me, and now will likely hate me as well by picking his brother's side.

I personally have done nothing wrong. I was innocently there until he was drunk, started verbally attacking me, and then trying to physically attack me.

The man's brother helped me easily land the position, could he not just as easily find me a way out? Even if I were to return, I doubt I would be able to advance far at this bank due to the implications.

All other's at the bank speak fondly of me (as I was the highest ranked SA in end of term ratings).

Advice? Should I return to a bank where the head of it hates me (and could get me fired, as his brother will likely inform him I interviewed elsewhere after signing)? Should I try to look elsewhere at all costs (there are likely not FT opportunities available this late in the game)?

You were supposed to tape/record him to get evidence to protect firing randomly, etc.

it will work itself out. you have nothing to lose, he has everything to lose. if you do a great job for other MD's and all of sudden this guy is bad mouthing you, words will travel around quickly and that's the last thing this guy needs/wants.

like i said, do a killer job, you will be fine.

First of all: Excellent show of restraint. Don't flush your future down the toilet for some moron. I almost did once (a long time ago), and at the time failed to realize how far-reaching the consequences of assault can be.

How large is the group? How much interaction would you have with the head on a daily and weekly basis?

My thoughts: If this guy is so far removed so that you won't see him much, you can take the job, keep your head down, crush it, and recruit for the buyside. The risk you're running there (potentially) is that the group head will somehow negatively affect your chances with prospective employers. Frankly, I would imagine that this risk is minimal as you/your shop would be a future customer and it's generally bad form to alienate your customers...Curious to hear others chime in.

Why didn't he like you in the first place?

There's no benefit for the head of a group at a BB to be spiteful and badmouth an Analyst in hopes to damage your career. You seem to have proved yourself and if you continue to succeed, there is a slim chance you'd become collateral damage from an incident involving your mother and his brother. However, I would keep the story to myself, continue to do a great job. If you sense something's off (comp, promotions etc.) remove yourself from the situation and bounce to another firm.