In a previous column, this writer may have intuited that if you work for a bank, and that bank is cutting personnel, now may not be the best time to flout the rules.
The focus, at the time, was flex work: In short, if a bank is pushing its employees to work five days a week from the office, and you’re commuting twice a week, you may be leaving yourself vulnerable to a C-suite that only needs a reason to let people go.
Substitute “flex work” for anything defensible. Here’s one: Citi on Thursday fired a banker whose comments on her personal Instagram page arguably defend the Holocaust.
Responding to an Instagram post that claims Israel initially took credit for the recent bombing of a hospital in Gaza, then backtracked when video of civilian casualties surfaced, Nozima Husainova, a 25-year-old New York City-based personal banker for Citi, wrote: “No wonder why Hitler wanted to get rid of all of them [smiley-face emoji].”
For the record, Israel says it has evidence the blast was a misfire from the militant group Islamic Jihad. U.S. intelligence seconds that, according to CNN.
Islamic Jihad, a rival of Hamas (against whom Israel has declared war), has denied responsibility. And several Palestinian and Arab leaders have continued to blame Israel in the incident.
The nonprofit watchdog StopAntisemitism, meanwhile, screen-grabbed Husainova’s post and put it on X, formerly Twitter, generating blowback for Citi.
“This is NOT inclusiveness and your organization needs to fire her,” one X user, Marian Kruss, wrote, according to The Daily Mail.
''Where can I send a complaint about one of your employees, Nozima Husainova, praising Hitler's extermination of Jews?' wrote another, Lenny Luchese. “Or does Citi condone her words?”
Citi early Thursday said it was “investigating this matter and taking appropriate disciplinary action.”
The bank later confirmed to Bloomberg, the New York Post and other sources that it had, in fact, “terminated the employment of the person who posted the revolting antisemitic comment on social media.”
“We condemn antisemitism and all hate speech and do not tolerate it in our bank,” Citi said in a statement.
StopAntisemitism, for its part, responded to the bank’s action by posting, “Thank you @Citi for saying NO! to antisemitism.”
Husainova was in her second year at Citi after graduating from CUNY Brooklyn College in 2021, according to a LinkedIn page seen by The Daily Mail before it was deleted. Husainova’s Instagram page has also reportedly been deleted.
Husainova could not be reached for comment by the New York Post.
There’s arguably never a time to snark about genocide on social media. But if you find that you must (and this writer isn’t defending that life choice), consider the consequences.
Especially if your employer is a month in to its biggest reorganization in two decades.
Citi shed 2,000 jobs last quarter, is expected to announce more layoffs in November, and has stockpiled enough to pay severance for 7,000 on the year. And its CEO has publicly told employees to “lean in, help us win with clients, help us deliver the changes, or get off the train.”
Citi dodged a potential public relations nightmare in choosing to act quickly. New York City-based personal bankers may not be a focus in Citi’s headcount reduction. But if Husainova’s dismissal means another employee gets to stay on the train, the move makes sense.
