Fired - extended version - part 3

So that all happened on a Monday.

I didn’t hear from them until Saturday.

Nancylynn called me and asked if I could come in.

I get there and go back to the office, we sit down and she says,

“Well they came back with a decision and it wasn’t in our favor so we are going to have to let you go.”

I was floored.

I, for the life of me, could not see how they could ever fire me over this or else I would have quit.

“Well can I quit so I don’t have a fire on my record?”

“No, you are already out of the system.”

“You just screwed me over then, it’s going to be so much harder to find a job.”

“No, by law we don’t have to disclose why you were fired. And even then it doesn’t say you were fired for theft just inability to follow policies.”

“Nancylynn, I know for a fact that the hiring process at Ross has a question that asks if you have ever been fired and if you check yes that application gets disposed of and it never even gets to human eyes.”

“Oh, I see what you mean.”

“Nancylynn, do you feel like the punishment fit the crime?”

“Well they are trying to be consistent with anything that needs disciplinary action, that’s why they had to fire both you and Scott.”

“Consistent? What about some of your employees that everyday are at least a half hour late? Or those that stash merchandise and wait for it to go on clearance before they buy it? Or the people that have come into work drunk? 

So do YOU think the punishment fit the crime?”

“I have fired two people for coming into work drunk.” 

“But not all, so where is the consistency?”

At this point I am so done and just ready to get out of there. It was a nice day and now I was looking forward to spending it in the sun.

“What do you need me to sign?”

As I was walking out I turned to her and asked, "Was I not an good employee for you?"

(at this point she starts to get hysterical)

"No, no you were perfect! You were the best! You were the one I had in line for management! I never wanted to loose you!"

"Well......good luck to you." And I walked out.

A month after all of this I got a fantastic job at a design center where I was getting paid more and I had a way better work schedule. Three months after that I got my job at xango, which I did love. Now I get to be Bridget's mama which is by far the best job I have ever had.

Nancylynn and Brian both still work at Ross Dress for Less. 

Bless their hearts.

Fired - Extended Version - Part 2

An entire TWO WEEKS goes by. I have all but forgotten about the whole situation when I am called back to the back office.

I head back thinking it probably had something to do with the two girls I had been training. 

I walk in and Nancylynn closes the door behind me and tells me to have a seat. There sitting in front of me was the corporate loss prevention guy, Matt.

Matt turns to me and with his head in his hands heaving big sighs, and in a tone of deep disappointment (like I had just committed murder) says,

“Tell me about this candy incident.”

“Uh……………….”

What?? I am looking around thinking, Am I being punked? Where is Ashton?

(all the while my manager, Nancylynn won’t look at me.)

“Well, it was a while ago, let me remember.”

“We know you are guilty, we have the surveillance tape. I just want to know what you were talking about as you sneak around eating the candy.”

Sneak around?

Now I realize sometimes I can do dumb things but somehow I managed to graduate college. And even though I didn’t learn to look for cameras at college, I guess my street cred gave me that experience.

And somehow after working there for 6 months I may have noticed the very obvious cameras that were directed at each register. But I am sure he was right, I was probably sneaking around in the direct line of vision for the cameras to pick it up.

“Well, we were discussing how one of the flavors tasted like chocolate covered cinnamon bears and how much we loved those. So, yeah, mostly we were talking about chocolate covered cinnamon bears.”

“I see. You seem like a good person.”

“Yeah I am a good person.”

“This is a first time offense?”

“Yes sir, I have never even been late to work.”

“You realize that you took something that wasn’t yours, this is just like if you were to take a pair of jeans and run out of the store.”

“Uh…alright.”

“This is the same as if I were to go into your purse and take a piece of gum.”

"Ok." You could have a piece of gum, especially if I was going to throw the gum away.

“This would be the same if I were to go into your purse and take a thousand dollars.”

“You are right, I am sorry. It was really dumb and I will never do it again.”

“So I will tell you what’s going to happen now. We do this in a very unbiased way, I do the investigation and then I talk with two other corporate people and we make a decision. I will go make a few calls. I will also need you to sign this document saying you will pay for the item you ate, lets see the price divided by two means you owe $2.66.”

“Can’t I just give you the $2.66? Do I have to sign this document?”

“Well the document says that we hand this part over to an attorney and any additional attorney fees you will have to pay for as well.”

WHAT?? 

Of course this is already after I signed it.

Matt goes to make his phone calls and leaves me there with my spineless manager Nancylynn who still won't look me in the eyes. At this point I am crying because I am humiliated and I cannot believe that this measly little thing has been escalated into a felony.

Nancylynn, while looking at the floor says,

“It’s like that general conference talk, I don’t remember who gave it: come what may and love it.”

Excuse me?? That, is what you are going to say to me?

Matt comes back and says, “Well I couldn’t get a hold of the other people so we are going to have to put you on assisted leave, which means you have to leave the premises immediately and cannot work until we determine if you will be terminated or not.”

“ok, this actually works out great because I am substitute teaching and I really need to research the lessons.”

Matt looks at Nancylynn like that wasn't the reaction he wanted from me after he delivered such a heavy blow. 

I am thinking, SWEET, I don't have to close for the next few nights like I was scheduled to do.

“And if you talk about this with any one else involved you will be terminated immediately.”

**This whole situation happened about 2 1/2 years ago when I worked for Ross. Not my current predicament with being laid off while on maternity leave from xango.

Fired - extended version - part 1

Just after Trevor and I were married we moved back to Utah (we had been living in Philadelphia for 2 months) and in with my parents.

We were desperate to find jobs; I was hired at Ross Dress for Less as their Front End Supervisor…. a cashier.

If you shop at Ross (which I still do, no hard feelings) you may have noticed their “Loss Prevention” people. They look like security guards, although here is a secret from me to you; they can’t do anything. Basically they are glorified Walmart greeters.

They do have a few additional duties other than saying hello and goodbye to people. Every couple of hours they walk around the store looking for stashed merchandise, broken items, cut hard tags, etc.

One day one of the loss prevention guys, Brian, (actual name, there are no innocent people in this story to protect) found a container full of these chocolate covered candy sticks that had been torn open and some of them were missing.

Via

At Ross they have a bucket called MOS, I can’t for the life of me remember what that stands for but that is the bucket we put all the stuff that is damaged or when people returned things that is broken and couldn't be resold. Everything that is going to be thrown away we put in this bucket so the manager can make a note that the item was damaged and not stolen, then into the trash compactor it goes, no matter what condition it’s in.

So Brian put this container with these candies in the MOS bucket and ended his shift.

Later in the evening, I was still there. Scott was the Loss Prevention guy working that night, I like Scott, we are buddies. Things were slow so I was back behind the counter scanning in the returns while we chatted.

There were a few of the candies up on the return counter so I was looking at them. They had names like: chocolate kahlua, cinnamon schnapps, and mint julep.  

I said, “there is no way these have actual liquor in them.” 

I pulled the container out of the MOS bucket to double check the ingredients.

Nope, no actual liquor.

So I had to try them, at least one of every flavor.

Scott was standing there so I offered some to him; it was dinnertime after all.

The next day I was working as was Brian. The Manager on duty, Niki, came up and started to pull everything out of MOS to take back to the trash compactor. Brian saw the container of candy and said,

“Hey that had more candy in it when I found it.”

So I said, “Yeah, I tried them, they are actually really good!”

“Well if you had some that means Scott had some too.”

“Yeah, sure, we all had some.”

“That is against Scott’s job description.”

Now I don’t know if Brian had a personal vendetta against Scott, or if he was just extremely honest.

I see him start to bee-line it to the back room, where our store manager, Nancylynn was.

Oh seriously, I thought. So I head back there as well.

I walk into her office as he is standing over her shoulder and they have the surveillance tape up from the night before.

They hear me come in and quickly shut down the tape like I caught them doing something they weren’t supposed to.

“Oh” I say, “Are you guys talking about last night? I can just tell you what happened. I ate some of the damaged candy that was in the MOS bin that Brian found yesterday. I realize now that it was probably wrong of me to just go ahead and eat it but I justified it because it was going to be thrown away anyway. Can I buy it now?”

Nancylynn responds “No, you can’t buy it. It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s Scott.”

“Why? I was the one who had the idea and gave some to Scott, it’s not his fault or responsibility, it is mine. I can write up a statement if you want.”

“Well we will have to see, I need to decide if I am going to report this to corporate or not.”

“Uh……..ok.” 




**This whole situation happened about 2 1/2 years ago when I worked for Ross. Not my current predicament with being laid off while on maternity leave from xango.

Fired - short version

I was fired for eating candy out of the garbage. 

True story.

No Such Thing as Job Security

I know with these tough economic times more and more of us are realizing that job security is an illusion.


But I am in a perfect situation, maternity leave. 


What I know about the Family Medical Leave of Absence Act is that I can take up to 12 weeks off work (unpaid) for the birth of my child and my position would be guaranteed for me when I got back. 


So my job is protected for me by the law. 
You can't get more secure than that.
 Right? 
Wrong.


A little over a week ago I was laid off from my job at xango. 


I wasn't the only one laid off many people were, and each person obviously needed their job. 


But I was the only one laid off while on maternity leave, and as you can imagine me being laid off spread through the office like wild fire. 


There is no such thing as job security.


When I got the phone call I was nursing my sweet baby girl. I entered the conversation thinking it was the girl who was temporarily taking over my job responsibilities, she usually called or emailed me several times a week with questions. 


It was not her on the other line.


It was so unexpected that I was incredibly chipper and understanding the whole time. When I hung up it started to sink in.


I don't have a job anymore. 


I had 2 weeks left of my maternity leave and then I was going to go back part-time for a little while before starting back up full-time. 


Every Monday I would get a pang of deep sorrow when I looked at my sweet Bridget and thought, I have to leave you (But she is so little!!!) in four weeks.... (She can't survive without me!) in three weeks.... (I can't survive without her!) in two weeks.....   


It didn't matter that it would only be for two hours everyday and she would be with her Grammy, It was the hardest thing I think I would ever have to do.


So when I hung up the phone and started to cry, I had to make myself evaluate these tears. What kind were they? 


Sure enough, they were tears of joy.


Luckily we started to really tighten our budget and make sure everything would be taken care of with Trevor's income while I was on maternity leave. So for now I am a stay at home mom! OFFICIALLY!


BUT it didn't matter that the situation is perfect for me in the end, it always hurts to be rejected. 


Doesn't matter if it's personal or business, it always feels personal.


However, being laid off is way easier than being FIRED. 
Which reminds me of another story. 
The story of when I was fired from Ross Dress for Less. 


It's a good one. 
So stay tuned.


But for now, I'll get back to my job....

I will continue to look for another job, probably something part-time that I can do from home.