Back of twenty dollar banknote isolated on white background

A Portland U.S. Bank employee said she was fired after giving $20 of her own money to a customer who was broke and stranded at a gas station on Christmas Eve.

“I was a customer of U.S. Bank, I needed help, and she went above and beyond,” said Marc Eugenio of Clackamas. “I felt so bad. She was the only one helping me.”

On Dec. 23, Emily James, a senior banker at a U.S. Bank call center in Portland, said she spent more than an hour trying to help Eugenio, a bank customer whose paycheck from a new job had been placed on hold. He was essentially broke before Christmas.

She told Eugenio to visit his bank branch in the morning — Christmas Eve — and ask a bank manager to verify the funds from the issuing bank. Eugenio went to his bank and got his boss to verify his employment, but the branch manager was on vacation, and the bank was closing early for the holiday. There was no one, he was told, who could lift the hold.

Frustrated, he again called the U.S. Bank 800 number to speak to the woman who had helped him the day before. He said he was calling from a gas station in Clackamas, unable to even fill his tank.

“I said, ‘I wish I had just $20 bucks to get home,’ ” Eugenio recalled. “And she said ‘Wait, hold on.’”

James handled calls from customers across the country and said it was rare to speak to anyone local. But in this case, Eugenio was just a few miles away.

On Christmas Eve? It seemed like a sign. She told Eugenio that she’d be there within 30 minutes with some gas money.

“It was like, ‘Wow, she really cares,” he said.

But on New Year’s Eve, James said, the regional service manager was waiting for her when she arrived at work.

“She said, ‘We’re sorry, we cannot keep your employment,’” James said. The reason, James said, was because of her “unauthorized interaction with a customer.”

James said her supervisor, who gave her permission to deliver the money, was also fired, though The Oregonian was unable to confirm this.

A spokeswoman with U.S. Bank said the company does not comment on employee matters.

“I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t help someone if you had the ability to,” James said. “It’s Christmas Eve, it’s already a rough time for people, and you’re going to leave someone stranded?

Eugenio said he eventually did get the check cleared but not until several days after Christmas. For his kids, ages 9 and 13, he had to leave IOUs under the tree.

James said her original motivation in sharing her story was to get her job back. Now, she’s not so sure.

“I don’t think I would want to continue to work for someone who would do that,” she said.