Bug report - local (and git ignored) file silently removed after checkout

Hi,

In a (special ?) situation, I've lost a local (and git ignored) file silently, and I've failed to get it back.

Context:
  - in previous version of my project, the TODO file was versioned
  - in current development version, this file is NO more versioned AND
it is ignored by a gitignore rule, but still at the same place for
better ease of access -> such a way, this file has been locally
updated several times
  - during worflow process, I've finally performed a checkout on a
previous version (in which the TODO file was versioned) -> after that
the file has been silently updated with the old version
  - after modification, I've performed back a checkout on the current
version and this time my TODO file has been fully and silently removed

Questions:
  - is it a behavior regarded as normal ?
  - is there any way to get back the TODO file, in LOCAL version it
was before the first checkout ?
  - in any case, is there any way to be warned (and to make the
checkout fail) of such situation (local ignored file being overwritten
with 'older' not-ignored version) ?

Thx, Best regards, TWK