So many legitimate concerns have been raised but all that’s been printed was essentially a Fidelity press release. This is coming from an active employee who’s extremely happy working at Fidelity. I want the company to be very successful. Although, I also believe large corporate entities need to be called on any BS to prevent further abuses of power. None of that has taken place and I find that to be very troublesome.
What we know for sure:
At least some former employees were fired after exchanging an item for a higher priced replacement.
This resulted in no net gain for the former employee.
Fidelity apparently has access to reprinted return receipts from Apple and Best Buy. These are companies that it also has a business partner relationship in either Stock Plan Services or 401k/Pension.
There are questions as to whether a return policy was even printed on certain forms.
There is also a legitimate question regarding the wording of said policy as to whether an individual still owns the item at the time of the reimbursement submission.
It’s easy to dogpile on the fired employees and say they acted unethically. I wouldn’t disagree except to say the severity of individual actions varied significantly from case to case.
There were thieves amongst us and should have been dealt with accordingly. They copied receipts and submitted false documentation.
And then there were those that took advantage of a company perk.
Of course, from the reporting to Finra, they’re all guilty of the same crime. The same broad brush marked up the U5s.
Whether or not Fidelity had a legal right to access those return receipts is not for me to say. However, it would be nice if somebody would f***ing find out? Is that really too much to ask from a media member or law professional? I’m really just curious at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if some Boston colleagues are equally curious as to whether the company crossed the line.
Either way, I think it’s an abuse of power whether or not they were legally asking Apple and Best Buy to comply. Fidelity needs to be better than that. That’s not the company I take pride in going to work for each day.