By Joel Reese
A former employee of Point Reyes Station's Bank of America and its successor, the Bank of Petaluma, has sued both banks over the loss of her job.

Jackie Campigli of Point Reyes Station, who began working at Bank of America's Point Reyes Station branch in June 1984, was dismissed by Bank of Petaluma on Aug. 17, 1994.

The Bank of America branch was bought by the Bank of Petaluma on Aug. 12, 1994.

Campigli, who provided The Light with a copy of her lawsuit, alleges she was wrongfully fired, which, in turn, caused her so much stress that she had to be hospitalized.

Campigli included BankAmerica Corporation in the suit, she said, because the bank rescinded its usual transfer agreement just before the branch changed ownership.

The transfer agreement allows Bank of America employees to transfer to other B of A branches, and when the bank rescinded the agreement it essentially "forced [its] employees into the employ of Bank of Petaluma," she said.

Her suit also alleges wrongful termination and "intentional interference with economic advantage" by the Bank of Petaluma. Campigli is seeking unspecified monetary damages from both banks. No comment from banks

Neither Bank of Petaluma nor Bank of America would comment on the case.

According to Campigli's lawyer, Richard Louderback of San Rafael, Bank of America has answered the lawsuit, and Bank of Petaluma has said it will answer on Friday, Oct. 20.

Louderback estimated the case will go to court in the summer of 1996.

In an interview, Campigli said she vividly remembers the day she was fired. She said she went into work like any other day as a senior financial representative and was pulled aside by Bank of Petaluma's Senior Vice-President of Operations Arlene Brians.

"Arlene met me as I came in the door and said, 'As of today, you're terminated,'" Campigli recalled. "'You don't represent our bank properly,' she told me."

Campigli said if she referred to her new employers as "they" in her haste to help customers, "it wasn't done intentionally. There were a lot of people in line. I mean, my goodness, I had an overwhelming number of people waiting go be helped.

"I didn't even know I said 'they,'" she said. "I had committed fully to the Bank of Petaluma."

Campigli said she was also criticized for telling a customer she was tired and had to go to the bathroom.

When told she was being fired, Campigli said she went into "traumatic" shock. She said she became severely depressed, and a couple weeks later, she felt strong chest pains and thought she had suffered a heart attack.

She later went to Marin General Hospital for an angiogram, where they found no indication of a heart attack.

Campigli also underwent back surgery in March, which she blames on the firing. She said the stress of losing her job irritated a previous back problem, causing "injury to injury."

Campigli said her strong reaction to the dismissal is because of her lengthy history with the bank and the people of West Marin.

"They told me I was a key person here," she said, noting the favorable job reviews she had previously received. "I was born here. I went to school here. I was married here... I've been severely damaged. This was my community, my job."