Without giving too many details, here's what I'm currently dealing with.
There are 3 positions in my department. Officer, Manager, and me. One Friday night, I received a text message from a teller at about 9:30 pm, asking "What happened to Officer?"
I said, "Nothing, he will be back from his vacation on Monday."
She goes on to forward to me a text message sent by a location manager, instructing front line staff to treat Officer as any other customer and not to allow Officer any restricted access, and that Officer's employment has been terminated.

Excuse me????????

I'll skip over all my tears, anger and stress at the whole situation, but now we discover that he was basically intimidated into "resigning" - they made up a cover story for him, offered him a severance package and basically said G.T.F.O., or else you're fired and you'll never work in another bank again. Obviously he took the offer, but they never gave him any convincing reason for the sudden mutiny against him.

Fast forward again - the most recent meeting of the Committee that oversees our department, the first meeting since the resignation. Right out of the gate, one of the Committee memberse asks - "Do we have minutes for the special meeting that we had?" ::awkward silence::
"Which meeting is that?" someone asks.
"The meeting that was called to discuss Officer's employment."

So uncomfortable. We all sat in silence, cringing.

No, there AREN'T minutes for that meeting, another member says. That meeting was never called to order, therefore it wasn't an official meeting, he says. We don't need minutes for that meeting, no formal business was carried out, he says.

The whole thing feels so yucky to me. Yes, I DO think they should have minutes for the "special" meeting, whether or not any official business was carried out (since Officer technically resigned, the Committee didn't need to approve the termination because the termination isn't real). If they had a meeting, they should have minutes.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Support? Job leads?? lol

Duck.
Cover.
Let Committee chair worry about procedural items and minutes.
Update profile on LinkedIn.

Keep you head down and your mouth shut lest you be 'offered' something similar before you find your new job and resign.

Exactly, it does not sound you are in a position to be privy to the reasons of his departure, nor how the bank wishes to handle it.

I'd focus on my own work and establishing a new relationship with whomever the bank brings in as their replacement, and not get worked up about that are out of your control, nor that you have the full story to.

Your feelings on the matter are irrelevant to the work you need to be doing. Who knows, once the real reason for Officer's departure comes out (it usually does), you may feel completely different about the whole thing, and may then regret any sudden and rash moves you may have made in your earlier frustration.

Good advice Just Jay!

Anon2 sez: Chillax. Officer may have been doing something naughty, may have friended the CEO's wife, may have done some kind of crime, who knows. Don't get all worked up about it because you don't know what happened and may never know. Be cool.

most savvy HR people would tell you that only put in writing things you wouldn't mind having repeated back to you in court, because if it is written it is discoverable. A discussion about employment for someone, officer or not, should rarely be held in a formal "committee meeting" if the discussion is on their performance and there is talk of termination and the reasons why. I've been in management for 20+ years, and while I put in writing formal counselings and my recommendation that we terminate an employee to HR based on cause, any actual discussion and determination on termination has never been recorded in meeting minutes.

Almost everyone has been in a position where someone they liked or admired left employment for some reason...many companies now solely state that someone left to pursue other opportunities, lets someone leave with a shred of dignity, and also save the embarrassment of that company being sued if they say "we fired so and so because they weren't any good."

In the end, you are still employed and JJ makes a great point, build the new relationship with the replacement person, because that is who you will now be working with/for.

At the end of the day, you have two options.

1. Follow the advice provided by Happy and JJ.

2. If this co-worker is also a friend and you feel they have been wronged by your current employer and you can no longer work for them, start looking for a new job.

I agree with what has already been said because I have been on both sides. There are some thing that you do not need or want to know. As long as you are being treated fairly and still enjoy what you do, I would go on about my business.

good advice from everyone. I hope the committee member that brought-up the topic of the "special" meeting in-front of employees that did not attend the "special" meeting was taken aside and counseled on confidentiality.