April 12, 2005 3:48 PM

Your job and your money
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 3:48 PM

Hmmm. . .rubbing salt in the wounds, anyone? First you're laid off from your job after your company merges. Not good. Then the company gives you a decent severance package to ease the pain. Not great, but better. Then the new parent company comes back to you later and says you have to give back a good chunk of the money. B-a-a-a-d.

The Boston Globe reports today that several former FleetBoston employees are facing this very situation:

One former worker, Alisa R. Drayton of Roxbury, said the bank asked her to send a check for more than $7,000 in December. ''I thought it was so mean-spirited. Why would you send this a week or two before Christmas?" said Drayton, who worked as a corporate finance associate for Fleet's securities unit and is currently unemployed.

When Drayton still hadn't paid in February, the bank sent another letter asking for more than $9,000. Another former Fleet employee, who did not want his name used, also said he got a letter asking for about $9,000, which he has not paid.

An honest mistake? Maybe. But even though the new parent, Bank of America, did reportedly overpay the severance, it does not make for a pretty story for the company. Moral: make sure get your bean counters count correctly - especially in a bank.
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