Tampa bank manager sues after being fired for carrying a gun to work

Ivette Ros wants to walk into a bank with a gun.

The former bank manager lost her job at Wells Fargo in Tampa last year after the bank's executives learned she was packing a legal pistol with a concealed carry permit. The bank's policies prohibit any bank employee from carrying firearms in a bank.

Now, she's suing for monetary damages and attorney's fees, claiming that the bank violated her constitutional right to bear arms.

The 37-year-old Tampa resident told the Tampa Tribune that she's a single mother of three who carries the gun for safety. “It’s just something about having it versus not having it,” she said. “I feel naked when I don’t have my gun.”

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Kathy Harrison told the Tribune and other outlets that she wouldn't talk about the court case, but noted that the bank has clear rules prohibiting employees from bringing weapons onto its premises. Exceptions are made when a state allows individuals to keep permitted weapons in their locked vehicles in a company parking lot.

Ros said sometimes she left the weapon in her locked car in the parking lot, but she also brought it inside. Ros said she never openly displayed it, but someone reported her to the bank.

[Image of a woman with a gun via Shutterstock]