In June 2026, a claim (archived) circulated online that JPMorgan Chase fired a diversity, equity and inclusion executive after she stole a New York Knicks-themed trash can during the team's NBA Championship celebrations.
One X user who shared the claim wrote, "BREAKING: The women who went viral for stealing a Knicks-themed trash can at the parade last week was identified as Angie Báez, a Director of DEI at JPMorgan."
BREAKING: The women who went viral for stealing a Knicks-themed trash can at the parade last week was identified as Angie Báez, a Director of DEI at JPMorgan.
JPMorgan reportedly fired Báez after the video of her got millions of views on social media, and the firm confirmed… pic.twitter.com/4oCkmfjZ99— Short Squeez (@shortsqueeznews) June 23, 2026
The claim circulated after a video (archived) on social media showed the woman emptying and taking a blue-and-orange trash can on Church Street in Manhattan. Another video (archived) showed the same woman riding the subway with the trash can.
Social media users on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and Reddit (archived) also shared the claim. Snopes readers contacted us about the claim.
The claim was a mixture of true, false and undetermined elements.
The New York Post identified the woman in the videos taking the Knicks-themed trash can as Angie Báez. We confirmed that identification based on a video of Báez riding the subway with the trash can and a since-removed headshot on The Org (screenshot), a website that shares company organization charts.
We contacted JPMorgan Chase to ask whether the company had fired Báez, as the Post reported. A spokesperson said, "This employee is no longer with the company."
While the spokesperson's statement effectively identified the person seen stealing the Knicks-themed trash can as Báez and confirmed that she had formerly worked for JPMorgan Chase, how she left the company remained undetermined. The Chase spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether the videos of Báez stealing the trash can led the company to fire her.
It also did not appear that Báez's former role at JPMorgan Chase was related to DEI. Her most recent title at Chase was "executive director, community and industry engagement, card and connected commerce" starting in 2025, according to the online contact-finding database RocketReach.
Báez previously worked in a DEI-related role for The Infatuation, a New York–based restaurant recommendation website and messaging service, according to The Org and RocketReach. Online searches returned a bio page for Báez at The Infatuation, though the URL redirected to the publication's homepage at the time of this writing.
We attempted to contact Báez through a phone number that appeared on an old resumé circulating online to confirm she had left JPMorgan Chase and why. We had not received a response at the time of this writing.
A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Sanitation told Snopes on June 24 that Báez returned the stolen trash can. The department also posted (archived) about the return on social media.
The DSNY spokesperson added, "Sanitation Police issued two summonses, one for littering ($75) and one for impeding DSNY operations ($100). These fines are the maximum allowed by law for first offenses."
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said the department did not have a complaint report on file related to the videos of Báez.
The sanitation department collaborated (archived) with the clothing brand Only NY to produce and distribute about eight trash cans, the DSNY spokesperson said. The department was not aware of others being stolen. They encouraged people interested in owning the trash cans to buy smaller versions online.
For further reading, Snopes previously investigated whether the Knicks declined an invitation to the White House following their NBA Finals win.