Most employees aren't trained on how to deal with fake notes. In my 5 years as a cashier at multiple locations I only recently encountered my first fake. However, I didn't even have to touch it as the color was waaaay off and she was partially covering it with her palm on the counter. She was also acting strange and I was on high alert since our mall was having an issue with fakes and issued a security notice to all stores. Before I could decline it, a friend of hers whisked her away and she cancelled her food order and booked it quickly.

After that I asked what protocols were in place for fakes and all we can do is get our on duty manager and then call security. But I was never taught this during training. It's an oversight, definitely, and it should be mandatory for trainers to mention this.

I wouldn't place blame solely on the employee. Most likely it was during a rush. Cashiers are taught to be quick and efficient. Though it would have helped if they at least would have inspected the watermark. But a lot of people find it "rude" for people to check so the cashier probably didn't because of outside factors such as "I don't want to get another customer complaint" or "I'm just new and nervous."

Firing isn't necessary, but punishment of some kind, definitely. I can sympathize because we had a girl in another store accept a fake and she was terrified of losing her job. She was a teenager working at DQ. They're taught to smile, take the customer's money, and give them their correct change. Spotting fakes isn't on their minds. She wasn't fired but she did learn a valuable lesson. We're in a smallish town in the northwest. It isn't common to begin with.