In the week since her story made international news, Emily James, the banker fired from a U.S. Bank call center in Portland for a Christmas Eve act of kindness, has been “overwhelmed and emotional” from the outpouring she’s received.

“It made me cry, just the fact that people actually care,” she said. “I’ve had more people reach out and just have something kind to say in the last (few) days than in my whole life.”

On the day before Christmas, James had gotten permission from her manager to leave the call center and drive to a nearby gas station, where a bank customer was stranded. He couldn’t access the money from his paycheck at the bank, so James gave him $20 of her own money to buy gas, then went back to work.

The bank fired her a week later on New Year’s Eve, James said, calling her helpful hand an “unauthorized interaction with a customer.”

Then last week her account to The Oregonian/OregonLive went viral. She’s had several job interviews, including with other local banks, but hasn’t yet started another job. Several companies reached out over social media, wanting to hire her.

Hi Brad and Samantha. I own Salt & Straw. We’d love to hire someone like this. Can you connect me?! — kimamalek (@kimamalek) January 17, 2020

Marc Eugenio, the man she helped, said he’s likewise gratified by the support. But he’s still waiting for an apology from the bank – or even a call.

It’s no fun, he said, being in the spotlight for being broke – especially because he had the money coming to him.

“ ‘I don’t know, I can’t do anything, my hands are tied.’ They all seemed scared to do something, except for Emily,” Eugenio said. “She was the one who really tried to help.”

U.S. Bank initially declined to comment. But Lee Henderson, vice president of public affairs and communications, confirmed this week that both James and her supervisor were fired over the incident.

“Our policies and procedures for call center representatives are in place to both help and protect our employees and customers,” he said in a written statement. “Ms. James’s employment was terminated because rather than using the proper processes and procedures to help the customer, she chose to pursue a course of action that placed herself and the bank at risk.”

The series of unfortunate events started Dec. 23, when James, a senior banker at the call center, said she spent more than an hour trying to help Eugenio on the phone. U.S. Bank had placed a hold on his $1,080 paycheck from a new job.

James told Eugenio to visit his bank branch in Clackamas the next morning to get a manager there to verify the funds from the issuing bank. Eugenio followed her advice and also had his company verify his employment.

But the branch manager wasn’t in the office, and the bank was closing early for the holiday. Eugenio said he was told no one could lift the hold. Frustrated, but still hopeful the money could be released that day, he waited at a 76 gas station near Clackamas Town Center, thinking he might still have time to buy gifts at the mall before Christmas.

Parked at the station, he called James back on the U.S. Bank 800-number help line. He said he didn’t even have $20 to get gas.

That’s when James asked to put him on hold. She got permission from her manager to drive out to the gas station and give him $20 of her own money so he could get home. James said she offered to take a lunch break, but her supervisor told her to stay on the clock because she was doing work-related business.

“I handed him $20 in cash, said ‘Merry Christmas’ and went right back to work,” James said.

Henderson, the bank spokesman, said that shouldn’t have happened. He said James could have gotten money to Eugenio another way but declined to say what that was.

“(James) had a solution that she knew about that was at her disposal that for whatever reason she did not use,” he said in an interview. “She knowingly broke the rules. She put herself at unnecessary risk.”

He also said James had been disciplined before for “failure to follow procedures,” though he wouldn’t say what occurred or what the discipline was. James disputed the claim and said it may be tied to what she considered retaliation against her for a discrimination complaint she made. She earlier provided copies to The Oregonian/OregonLive of her last two employee reviews, which were positive, along with more than a dozen copies of awards and accolades from the bank.

@usbank your employee who helped me is so sweet!! I love Emily she was so kind, patient and helpful! She was from Oregon I believe. I am definitely hanging this up! 💟 I hope she has the best trip to NY anyone can hope for! #usbank #BeKind pic.twitter.com/YlWzpe2wr5 — . (@5t3f4n1e) March 24, 2019

James doesn’t know what solution he means.

“I tried everything I knew how to do, and no other manager had another outside-the-box option for me,” she said. “If I was given another option, I absolutely would have tried it.”

Eugenio said someone at the bank branch did offer him another “solution.”

“He offered me a credit card or a loan,” Eugenio said. “That was the most insulting part of all.”

Eugenio was unable to get the check cleared until several days after Christmas. With other bills to pay, he has yet to buy his kids presents.

“I never thought I’d make the national news,” he said. “It’s not something I’d like to be on the national news for.”

-- Samantha Swindler; sswindler@oregonian.com; @editorswindler

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