I'm skeptical as well having spent 20 years in banking on the deposit side.
If it was a paycheck which they say perhaps the paycheck had bounced in the past. It wouldn't be the first time an employer gave an employee a bad check.
Regardless the employee at the call center SHOULD NOT have been fired.
New Year's Day--Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. - Mark Twain