JPMorgan Chase staff member was temporarily fired after questioning CEO Jamie Dimon's return-to-office (RTO) policy at a recent town hall. Nicolas Welch, a longtime employee at the bank, asked whether managers have a choice in implementing the new five-day office mandate. His firing was later reversed after higher-level management intervened, according to Fortune.

Welch spoke about his concerns at a town hall meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on Feb. 12 about the firm's announcement that it would require all employees to come into the office full-time beginning next month. 

Welch said his seven-person team is spread across several countries and time zones, making it unnecessary for them to work together in the office. He suggested letting managers decide whether attendance is necessary for their team.

His comments were greeted with applause from coworkers, but Dimon quickly ended the discussion.

“There is no chance that I would leave that up to managers. Zero chance. The abuse that took place was extraordinary,” Dimon said, blaming remote work for inefficiencies. 

He also criticised employees for devoting too much time to Zoom meetings and rejected a petition calling for the bank to drop the mandate. “I don’t care how many people sign that f---ing petition,” he added.

Soon after the meeting, Welch was asked to report to his desk by Garrett Monaghan, a Vice President in JPMorgan Chase's Technology Employee Support Services (TESS) department. Welch was approached by Monaghan and another executive, Jeffrey Todd Merrill, who charged that Welch had brought discredit to the company.

Welch was then instructed to vacate his desk and the building. Hours later, still unclear about his employment status, he called his immediate supervisor, Richard Cundiff, who gave him no direct answers. It wasn't until 4:30 p.m. that Megan Mead, executive director of global IT support at the bank, reassured Welch that he was indeed still an employee and had merely been the victim of a misunderstanding.

That night, Monaghan texted Welch an apology for the experience and an offer to grab a beer and a handshake.

After the chain of events, JPMorgan Chase insists that Welch was never actually fired.

“He didn’t say anything wrong in the town hall,” a company spokesperson told Fortune. Welch’s boss, Cundiff, also denied his dismissal but declined to elaborate further.

Welch, while grateful to retain his position, is still upset over the work environment under the new mandate.“I want to do the job that I love in the way that I want to do it. That’s what I hope to get out of all this,” he told Fortune.

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