Deutsche Bank On How to Fire People

Yes, the bank has a script written out to guide management in firing employees----over the phone.

Bloomberg reports:

Deutsche Bank AG traders should be wary of calls that start with a thank you.
“Thank you for making yourself available for this call today,” reads the first line of a two-page draft script obtained by Bloomberg News that was used to fire at least one trader caught up in the Libor scandal. 

The niceties quickly fall away.

“We have decided that your employment agreement should be terminated with immediate effect by reason of your gross misconduct, which in the opinion of the bank is serious enough to prejudice the business and reputation of the bank,” the speaker would continue. “Your dismissal will be effective immediately and you will not be entitled to any period of notice or payment in lieu of notice.”

The text -- part of a cache of documents showing internal discussions on how to handle the exits of high-profile traders such as Guillaume Adolph and Christian Bittar-- shows how executives reacted on one front as the London interbank offered rate scandal mushroomed in 2011...

The documents center on two traders, Adolph and Bittar. Bittar was paid a bonus of as much as 90 million pounds in 2008. Both men have been reviewed by U.K. investigators, but neither has been charged....

The scripts also include a list of suggested responses to a trader in the process of losing his job. The primer advises the speaker not to “become involved in a detailed discussion of the facts” surrounding the basis for the termination.

"You may just simply wish to say: ‘We appreciate the points that you are making but can assure you that the Bank has thoroughly reviewed the available evidence and has now reached a conclusion.”

And if the employee complains the bank hasn’t followed the “usual disciplinary process” -- there’s an answer for that too.

“In the light of your interviews and the documents which have been discovered, we have reached the conclusion that your conduct does amount to gross misconduct and thus the appropriate course of action is to dismiss you immediately,” the speaker should say. “We do not think that any further hearings would alter that conclusion.”