Citibank wins case after sacking banker over two-sandwich lunch claim

[Demovictory9]

_____

Mr Fekete, who worked at Citi for seven years as an analyst specialising in financial crime, had travelled to Amsterdam for work between 3 and 5 July last year.

On returning to London, he filed an expense claim for food and drink which he believed was covered by the bank's €100 (£86.70) daily allowance.

However, the manager he submitted his claim to queried whether he had consumed all the food and refreshments he was seeking reimbursement for.

In an email exchange detailed in the employment tribunal ruling, Mr Fekete wrote: "I was on the business trip by myself and... I had 2 coffees as they were very small."

He further stated: "On that day I skipped breakfast and only had 1 coffee in the morning. For lunch I had 1 sandwich with a drink and 1 coffee in the restaurant, and took another coffee back to the office with me and had the second sandwich in the afternoon… which also served as my dinner."

Mr Fekete told Citi: "All my expenses are within the €100 daily allowance. Could you please outline what your concern is as I don't think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent."

______

Citi escalated the matter to its security and investigations services department, which also questioned Mr Fekete about whether he had shared a meal of pasta pesto and a bolognaise with his partner, to which he replied "no".

The banker later admitted that he had shared meals with his partner. He also said that he was having personal difficulties following the death of his grandmother, had taken six weeks of medical leave and was on strong medication when he replied to emails

https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiKmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9idXNpbmVzcy02NzEyMTQ1NtIBLmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9idXNpbmVzcy02NzEyMTQ1Ni5hbXA

[intrepidity]

1. Da fuck? nt

[albacore]

2. Ethics violation. Clearly. Probably the most serious ethics violation by Citi since whenever.

[ecstatic]

3. They clearly wanted him gone

Spending tens of thousands of dollars over this? Is it that hard to fire people? However, there is this:

Mr Fekete, who worked at Citi for seven years as an analyst specialising in financial crime, had travelled to Amsterdam for work between 3 and 5 July last year.

[sarcasmo]

5. Wonder who this guy helped convict of a financial crime? Sounds shady.

[JI7]

7. Maybe it had to do with not being truthful in such a position

[redqueen]

29. First thing I thought too. nt

[CentralMass]

4. Fucking bank.

[moonshinegnomie]

6. it sounds like the banker tried to cover it up

according to the judge
"I have found that this case is not about the sums of money involved. This case is about the filing of the expense claim and the conduct of the claimant thereafter.

"It is significant that the claimant did not make a full and frank disclosure at the first opportunity and that he did not answer questions directly."

Judge Illing added: "The claimant was employed in a position of trust in a global financial institution.


basically the bank asked him if he bought lunch for his partner and he wouldnt fess up. thats what he was fired for

[Skittles]

21. yup

details matter

[Takket]

8. So he was fired for expensing meals for an ineligible person

If he wants to be able to ignore and abuse ethics and spending policies he should consider another career such as gop member of Congress, governor of Arkansas, or member of SCOTUS.

[Demovictory9]

9. He was fired for the lie about it probably

[jcgoldie]

10. I would surmise this is about the 6 weeks of medical leave

When they split hairs like this to fire you, they were looking for a reason.

[Demovictory9]

13. You might be right.

[pinkstarburst]

26. That's my guess too

[Snooper9]

11. The fact that this is even a story...LOL

[Mosby]

12. I hope citibank is embarrassed

They even did this knowing that there was media interest.

[Generic Brad]

14. Why should they be embarrassed?

Integrity matters. Honesty matters. Truth matters.

I have more than 30 years managing operations in financial services and, although I have never worked at Citibank, the same result would have happened to me if had done something similar at all the places I have worked. Getting caught lying to an internal investigator always results in termination.

The termination was not about the sandwich. It was about lying.

[Mosby]

15. Yeah but it was a sandwich.

His total for the day was less than allowed, so why did they audit him anyway? Seems weird.

[Generic Brad]

17. There had to have been red flags that prompted the investigation

The sandwich gets headlines. It sounded more to me that he could have been treating business travel like a personal vacation. Perhaps he mentioned or was seen with a travel companion while on the road. There could have been suspicions he was compromised. Perhaps there was a performance issue that surfaced while he was on the road. Perhaps he was also being investigated for other instances of financial impropriety. Perhaps he slipped up and told a colleague. Any of those things could prompt questions. And double billing, even for a low amount, could be tagged as a red flag and prompt a question.

[uponit7771]

24. There were red flags on a covered expense amount?

[Generic Brad]

25. Double entry is a red flag

[lame54]

16. Because he did at a lower level...

What they do daily at higher levels

[Happy Hoosier]

18. I hate business travel when the rules are that in your shorts.

I prefer a flat per diem… if you spend less than the per diem, you can keep it. If you spend over per diem, it’s on you. Keeping track of expenses is a huge PITA.

[MissB]

20. As a matter of equity, my employer pays a flat per diem

Based on whatever the federal rate is for whatever city we are traveling to/from/in. It doesn’t matter if I pack all my own food, I still get the daily meal rate (which is something like $70-ish, an amount I’m unlikely to ever spend on food each day).

[Demovictory9]

23. Mine did the same. When returning, was paid flat rate for the days..no more meal receipts

[Maru Kitteh]

19. Hint. It wasn't about the sandwiches. They undoubtedly were looking for a reason

to get rid of him before the sandwiches.

[Demovictory9]

22. 6 week medical leave for mental health reasons probably figured into it

[Hugin]

27. Quiet Firing.

Ethics are only followed when they want to get rid of someone. He wasn’t in the club and since he was in investigations, he must’ve stepped on the wrong toe/toes.

[MyNameIsJonas]

28. He lied on an expense report.

As someone who has filed many expense reports, if you're caught fudging things, you're going to get fired. That's just a no-no. I've had to counsel people who forgot to remove their corporate card from their lyft account and accidentally charged a $20 ride to it to make sure they pay it back ASAP.

This wasn't an accident. He knowingly double-charged the card to pay for his partner's meal and then lied about it.

Had he been upfront and not lied, and offered to pay the difference, maybe he wouldn't have lost his job.