To Attorneys at Lawcash,
I was terminated from employment from Home Depot on March 24,2006.
I e-mailed the President, and Ceo of the company about the unjust firing. I guess for appeasement sakes they re-opened the investigation which in which they found the termination would stand. The Store Manager who conveniently left the company before this investigation was initiated in February 2006 was the person who authorized the markdowns. All total five people were terminated for this. This goes on everyday all over the country to help increase sales. Due to employment laws in Delaware and other states it doesn’t appear that we have any opportunity to pursue this matter. Please contact me if there are any other avenues in which we can pursue this matter. The real reasons are that with a total of 30 years service and our salaries they will save money!
Sincerly,
Tim Misciwojewski
At the district Pro-supervisor meeting in December 2005, Mr. John Lambeth (Regional District Loss Prevention Manager) told all the different stores to stop giving 10 off and to use the bid room for discounts.
1. I informed my store manager Mr. Chris Dumais and assistant manager Mr. Jerry Johnson that the discounts to our 2 top contractors were to stop immediately per Mr. John Lambeth.
They didn’t stop right away, so I told them on 2 more occasions.
The markdowns had stopped for a little while, but then the BIG PUSH for the quarter end of the year sales was nearing and we were told to bring in anything we could, especially open quotes in our system and to discount if needed.
I had been with Home Depot for over 14 years and was always told that the store manager ultimately controls all markdowns in his store and that he is responsible for the results to the District Manager.
Prior to this investigation the Regional District Loss Prevention Manager, Mr. John Lambeth had audited our store 2 or more times and NEVER questioned any markdowns which is his responsibility to audit.
One issue at the store level is a new program called the
Updated On: Thursday, May 18, 2006
Same
Updated On: Thursday, May 18, 2006
One issue at the store level is a new program called the 'Bid Room'. This was introduced to discount quotes for contractors. When we started to use this system the store manager found that the markdowns or discounts were still being taken off our profit loss sheet at the store level.
Chris Dumais directed me to stop using the bid room and we would take the markdown through the store.
Under Chris Dumais and Jerry Johnson’s direction we continued giving 10 off our top 2 contractors to increase sales for the store.
Mr. John Lambeth, in our investigation interview told me I should have called him or a district vice president to inform them that we were still giving 10 off to these 2 contractors.
I was still under the impression that Mr. Lambert knew of this due to his audit and him not doing anything.
Home Depot has always ruled with fear and intimidation to get the job done or else!
My charges for termination include:
1. Failure to follow company Markdown policy.
Under direction from my assistant manager and store manager(controlling all markdowns)
we took the markdowns as told to.
2. Fraud- intentionally authorizing and assigning false reason codes for markdowns.
Any authorization of markdowns and reason codes were directed to me by the store manager and assistant manager.( The company may say my ID code approved the markdowns, but it is common practice to get authorization by phone. No matter what Home Depot states, it is done NATIONWIDE !) I DID NOT deliberately deceive anything or anyone for unlawful or unfair gain, I DID NOT gain anything.
3. Unacceptable decision making demonstrated by choosing to do the wrong thing while knowing that it is wrong.
Again, under direct communication with my store manager and assistant manager, I was instructed to take the markdowns to get the sale. This to me is NOT doing the wrong thing or knowing it was wrong. It was taking the store managers direct order since he was responsible for all markdowns in his store.
4. Lack of leadership expected of a Department Supervisor- leading and guiding his associates to take unacceptable actions.
All three associates at my desk were directed by the assistant manager( Mr. Johnson) and store manager (Mr. Dumais) to take these markdowns to increase the store sales. They were also approved by them and the rest of the management team who have not been disciplined in any way. The whole store, every department , treated these particular contractors with kid gloves, because of the amount of monies they spend in our store.
5. Intentionally impeding a Home Depot internal investigation.
I was warned by Mr. John Lambeth not to discuss the issues with anyone, except himself or the new store manager Ed Witkowski. I at NO time made any statements to anyone about the particulars of our conversation with anyone. Any statements by anyone that I did so is a fabrication and lie.