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BofA Exec Can't Moon His Boss and Keep His Job, IL Court Rules

By Deanne Katz, Esq. on September 14, 2012 6:45 AM

There have probably been times when you wanted to moon your boss but Jason Selch actually did moon his superiors at Bank of America.

His reward for expressing his frustrations? Selch was initially given a warning but the company then did an about-face and fired him. That happened back in 2005 and he's been fighting them about it since then.

It's not that Selch loved his job so much after his company merged with Bank of America. But he was under the impression that he could keep his job so he sued for breach of contract.

The problem for Selch and his attorneys wasn't so much that he was fired for mooning his boss, although they did contest that in the suit. He sued claiming breach of contract after the company issued him a warning and then fired him even though he didn't violate the terms of the warning.

After he dropped his pants in a corporate meeting, Selch received a note from the company. It said that if he had any other incidents he would be fired.

Selch didn't cross the line again but when top-level executives found out about his antics they insisted that he be fired.

He had a contract only allowed him to be fired 'for cause' so Bank of America needed a reason before kicking him to the curb. In the suit, Selch argued that mooning his boss isn't a reason for termination since it didn't interfere with his ability to do his work.

Unsurprisingly the judge disagreed with Selch's assessment. Judge Michael Murphy ruled that his behavior was 'insubordinate, disruptive, unruly and abusive,' reports Huffington Post.

Selch's contention that the warning constituted a contract is also probably flawed. To have a contract both parties must agree to the terms. The warning wasn't a proposal of terms; it was just a reminder about acceptable behavior.

It also didn't give Selch any new benefits or require his consent - his job would have continued with or without the warning until he got the actual notice of termination.

Based on that assessment, Bank of America was allowed to fire him for his actions.

After all the fuss, Selch didn't even appear to want his job with Bank of America back, according to NBC. He just wanted his $2 million corporate partnership which would have vested several months after he was fired. He should have saved that mooning until his last day on the job unless of course he wanted a reference - or his dignity.

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