Reservist Locked Out Of Old Wachovia Job Wins Lawsuit

The Hartford Courant ^ | June 19, 2008 | EDMUND H. MAHONY

[CT-Freeper]

Michael Serricchio had all he had ever hoped for in a career by the summer of 2001.

At 29, he was working in the pressure cooker world of securities trading, managing millions of dollars for hundreds of investors and planning to support a family on the $200,000 he was collecting in commissions.

He also was a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

(snip)

But, he says, his welcome back was less than what he had hoped for. After a three-month delay, he said, Wachovia made a salary and employment offer that was so unsatisfactory it amounted to an effective dismissal — $2,000 a month and the opportunity to make cold calls to the owners of dormant investment accounts.

[CT-Freeper]

Sorry for the excerpt...pretty sure it's required with this news outlet. Basic jist of the story - Wachovia offered him a lower-paying job than what he had when he was called up. He sued, and won.

[RockinRight]

They had to do something while he was gone on duty, but there’s no reason they couldn’t give his clients back to him upon his return.

This man was serving his country, and Wachovia basically told him “f**k you.”

[gracesdad]

Good for him, but it took too damn long for justice.

[stylin19a]

Because the jury found that Wachovia willfully violated the law, Golub said, Serricchio is entitled to double the amount of his back pay from Wachovia and reinstatement to his old job. Arterton is expected to award damages at an upcoming legal hearing.

ouch...that should leave a mark.

[misterrob]

The employer has their hands tied here. When someone is called up they lose their services and have to replace the position with someone else. If the new person performs what to do? It isn’t that much different than mandated maternity or family leave. Why shouldn’t the employer shy away from hiring people in the reserves since they wind up having to deal with prolonged absenses and staffing issues.

Wachovia could have done something better here though.

[misterrob]

The employer has their hands tied here. When someone is called up they lose their services and have to replace the position with someone else. If the new person performs what to do? It isn’t that much different than mandated maternity or family leave. Why shouldn’t the employer shy away from hiring people in the reserves since they wind up having to deal with prolonged absenses and staffing issues.

Wachovia could have done something better here though.

[ltc8k6]

You make the situation clear to the new hire. You explain the he is replacing a soldier who had to serve his country, and the soldier will be getting his job back when he returns.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The company I work for has confronted this more than a dozen times, each time, correctly. As guys rotated back from service via NG callup, management took a look at new projects or positions in other divisions. It might be impossible to give the exact same job back but the pay and time in should be made good. Wachovia got what it deserved.

[Rammer]

Wachovia has to follow to the law like the rest of us.

"Wachovia could have done something better here though."

Yes, following the law would have been better than what they did.

[SoConPubbie]

Why shouldn’t the employer shy away from hiring people in the reserves since they wind up having to deal with prolonged absenses and staffing issues.

How about because they are putting their lives in harm's way protecting their country and actually, protecting the liberties, freedoms, and the financial structure that allows this company to actually do business.

I think that should be reason enough.

[CurlyDave]

"We strongly disagree with the jury's decision and are considering our options, including appealing this case," said company spokesperson Christy Phillips-Brown.

I sure hope they get an appellate judge who is a veteran. As shameful as not giving him his job and client list back was, appealing the award, and further delaying the compensation he is due, is even more shameful.

[fredhead]

Wasn’t it Sears that put in place a policy the their employees who got called up would receive, from Sears, the difference between their reserve pay and their previous Sears pay during their service? That is, if their Sears pay was larger.

[JackDanielsOldNo7]

wachovia blows.

[misterrob]

This is a set of beliefs that some companies will follow and other won’t. For example, there is limited support for Iraq now and not just in liberal circles. It’s not crystal clear that continuing to go forward in Iraq is about personal freedeoms, liberties and financial structure either. And, since government seems more than willing to interfere in business in terms of how they operate, who they hire and how they should be paid I don’t see why any business should really care since government doesn’t really care if businesses make it or fail. As a citizen I care but as a business owner I have to do battle with it.

[ElectricStrawberry]

Wachovia violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act.

[Terabitten]

Wachovia violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act.

Yup. USERRA is a big, big dog. When returned from a National Guard deployment to Bosnia in 2001, I had to educate my then-employer (a fortune 500 company) about USERRA. The company settled out of court with me.

[CT-Freeper]

The only question I have is what was his salary before he got called up? The $200K annual was commissions - that's not salary. When he returned, he was offered $24K a year base salary. However, he lost the client list that earned him that commission and would have had to start over again with cold calls, trying to rebuild a client base.

[MindBender26]

I once went into a branch of this bank to buy a cahsier’s check.

They charged $10 for it!

I said, I thought this bank was called “Watch-over-ya.”

They corrected me. It is “Walk-over-ya.”

They were right!!!!!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

YAY!

Too bad it took so long.

[PapaBear3625]

The $200K annual was commissions - that's not salary. When he returned, he was offered $24K a year base salary. However, he lost the client list that earned him that commission and would have had to start over again with cold calls, trying to rebuild a client base.

And here we have the root of the issue. He had built up a valuable client base before he left, worth an income stream of $200K/year. This asset was likely distributed among his manager and favored peers without compensation to Serricchio. They didn't want to hand this valuable asset back when he returned