Best not to moon your bosses if you want to keep your job

mooning.jpgFor a while Jason Selch actually got away with it. After a meeting in Chicago with Bank of America executives that didn't go the way he had hoped, Selch pulled down his trousers and told one of the B of A folks never to return to the Windy City. Amazingly, Selch was not fired on the spot. Instead, he was given a formal warning. But when the CEO of the B of A subsidiary that Selch had worked for found out about the mooning, he insisted that the guy be terminated - a costly move because it meant Selch losing a multi-million dollar bonus package. So what did he do? From CNBC:

Selch sued, arguing that firing him after issuing warning was a breach of contract. The warning had said he could be fired if he misbehaved in the future--yet after that one mooning, by all accounts Selch was well-behaved. What's more, Selch argued that because the mooning didn't interfere with his official duties, he couldn't be fired "for cause." The trial court granted summary judgment to the defendants in the suit. Last Wednesday, a three-judge appeals panel upheld the trial court, describing the mooning as "insubordinate, disruptive, unruly and abusive." So, just in case it was unclear, you can't moon your boss and expect to keep your job. Or your bonus.

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
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