1) The woman should have put on the mask according to bank policy
2) The employee totally lost sight of the purpose of the policy (to protect from the spread of the virus). By being confrontational when she was obviously trying to make a political statement, the employee kept her in the bank for an extended period of time without a mask waiting for the police to arrive. If she had the virus, this created a situation where she was giving prolonged exposure to everyone in the bank. If she didn't have the virus, the mask is nothing but a symbolic "I'm on your side" for the promask crowd. Calling the police for a violation of company policy is over reacting.
3) The police shouldn't have roughed her up and arrested her for such a silly situation.
From a "did she get what she deserved" perspective, assuming all of the facts are in this summary, probably. But what we have become as a nation concerns me. There is so much judgement based on just mask wearing. The best thing to do to prevent the spread is wash you hands often. The next best thing is social distance. Since washing hands is hard to verify, and most people don't like social distancing, we look to see if they have a mask on and judge them. Don't lose sight of what this is all about and trying to accomplish. Masks are just one risk mitigation technique. This whole situation makes my heart ache because customer service was never in any of their minds.
Steve McCown
CEO
United Republic Bank
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Stephen McCown
President and CEO
United Republic Bank
Omaha, NE
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-15-2021 19:13
From: Barb Rehm
Subject: Tuesday Topic: Banks and Masks
A vacationer in Galveston, Texas, entered a Bank of America branch to make a withdrawal. The 65-year-old woman refused to wear a mask and a bank employee asked her to leave. The police were called, and an officer explained that the bank had a right to require mask wearing and told the woman to put on a mask or leave the building. (The state of Texas had just lifted its mask mandate.) She resisted the officer's attempts to escort her out of the building, was forced to the ground and hand-cuffed and put in a police vehicle and eventually taken to a hospital for an injury to her foot. A warrant for her arrest has been issued. The story and the video went viral.
What do you think of this encounter? Did the bank employee handle the situation correctly? How about the police officer? Have you had anything like this happen at one of your branches?
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Barb Rehm
Senior Managing Director
IntraFi Network
Arlington VA
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