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I might as well post a copy of this since for the most part this is what's going to be going to the state labor offices to determine if I can get unemployment.
Over the years I've been on this site, I've chosen to not reveal the name of the company I had worked for because most of the problems I had with them were because of my district manager, and I never really had a problem with people higher up on the ladder. I worked for a company called [edited out to protect former co-worker's legal case-The Mods]. I strongly recommend nobody buy anything from them, or get hired by them, as it turns out there are people in the corporate ladder just as assholish as the boss I worked for.
If the mods feel I'm breaking any rules regarding naming my company, I won't be mentioning it in the thread again to make it easier to edit it out.
Cast of Characters - I'm changing their names.
Me
Mark - my district manager
Jim - his boss
Veronica - My coworker who is a good friend despite the fact I bitched about her a few times on the site :P
Stacy - the new girl that was hired
I was shuttled back and forth between my showroom and the downtown showroom several days a week as Mark had difficulty in hiring new associates for either location. Many times he instructed me to put the Now Hiring sign up when Jim would be visiting the store and to leave it down during other times.
I was salaried at $300 per week working an average of 45-48 hours a week with a $100 managers stipend added on plus commission. Several times when our numbers were low, I would be threatened with losing my manager’s pay.
The working environment showed signs of being hostile in February. Mark had basically dangled the threat of me losing my management pay for several months prior. On or around the first of the year, my management stipend was converted to a “weekly bonus” on my paycheck, and I was told the bonus was subject to my week to week performance.
It was most affected by the showroom opening on time. Several times during that month, Veronica showed up late and my own pay was docked as a result of it. Mark's reasoning was that since I was the manager of the showroom that I was responsible for getting it opened on time – even on days I didn’t work at that location or had the day off completely. I protested the expectation that I would need to be at the store on my scheduled days off, especially when the round trip to and from work was in excess of 50 miles depending on traffic and frequent road closures, but Mark and Jim subsequently docked my pay several times due to policy transgressions on Veronica’s part during my scheduled days off.
Veronica became pregnant in 2008 and was about to take time off work in February, and we were looking for a new associate to fill her place during the three months she had been promised for. Veronica’s last day of work before leave was early February and Mark had hired a new associate to work down at the downtown showroom, Stacy. Several instances happened the next month that made the work environment hostile towards me and convinced me that I was being actively forced out.
The first incident started about 3 months prior. Every time Veronica showed up late to the store, be it for a doctors appointment or other appointment she had emailed about, Mark demanded I document that she was late, regardless of the reason. It became obvious that they were creating a paper trail when it came time to fire her or to bolden their position since they couldn't terminate her while pregnant as it would open them up to litigation. When I refused to do this, I was repremanded repeatedly by Mark. After I refused to participate in this, sensing what was coming, the environment started to turn hostile.
The second incident came when Jim, Mark, and myself were at the downtown showroom during or near the last week of February. We were engaged in conversation, and I had mentioned I would have been glad to work some extra hours once Veronica came back off of leave to get some overtime. Jim stated in an offhanded comment “Yeah, well, don’t worry about that. She won’t be working for us anymore.” This was told to me in confidence at a managerial level and it set off some red flags that my district manager and his bosss had planned to fire her, but would not fire her beforehand for fear of legal reprisal.
The third incident came later that month when Stacy came to work at my showroom, of which I was still officially the manager according to Mark. Stacy flat out refused to do any assignments or work which she was given by me unless they were specifically handed down by Mark. She told me she had been specifically instructed by Mark to not perform any tasks or activities which I assigned to her, even if they were part of the every day duties required of all our employees, specifically because I was the one that reminded her to do it.
While I simply did these activities for her while I was my showroom, it became a serious problem when I was working at the downtown showroom. Mark would be unavailable for two or three days at a time, and Stacy refused to perform several daily activities, most noticeably taking the cash and checks we would collect to the bank. On more than one occasion, these actions and similar ones forced me to make a decision to choose between violating company policy or running the risk of losing my job. No matter what action I chose I ended up reprimanded, usually in the form of a reduction in my aforementioned “weekly bonus” or threats of my employment being terminated and written warnings. It became obvious that they were creating a paper trail with me the way I refused to do so with Veronica.
The last incident happened in March of 2009. Via e-mail, I was officially demoted from manager and took a subsequent 25% cut in pay. This added to my emotional and physical distress which had been building for the last few months. Due to these health issues and the fact that my commute to and from work would be upwards of 100 miles a day if I had to run between the showrooms as I often did, I would not have been able to keep on working my job at the current level of pay.
Due to the aforementioned incidents, I am fully convinced that Mark and Stacy were conspiring to undermine my position as manager. I am fully convinced that at the very least, Mark and Jim were conspiring to make my employment situation so unbearable that I would seek employment elsewhere, thereby avoiding any chance of reprisal by myself for unemployment compensation.
While I am unsure of how this will affect my claim, there are two more instances which I wish to have on record. During the course of the few years I was at my location, I had developed a loyal repeat consumer base and had made several friends out of customers that would come to see me. I ran into two such individuals during the month of April and they were surprised to see me. They related to me that when they went into my old store, that Stacy helped them. When they asked Stacy about why I was no longer there, Stacy told them that she had been brought in to be trained as the new manager, that I had been fired, and that I had assaulted her, none of which is true. It was very upsetting to hear this from more than one source.
The second incident involves the previous associate who went on leave, Veronica. She was told during the second week of May by Mark to get a doctor’s note clearing her to come back to work. When she was instructed to return to work May 15th, Mark informed her that she no longer had a job at the company. She is also seeking unemployment and is looking to bring litigation against the company through the California labor board, and I have spoken with her social worker assigned to her UI case.
This second incident confirmed what I had been told back in February about Veronica not being allowed to come back to work, and the first incident confirmed my suspicions that Stacy, Mark, and Jim were conspiring together to make my job as unpleasant as possible and force me to quit as opposed to terminating my employment, similar to what they had told me in confidence they were going to do to Veronica.
Due to the hostile work environment and the fact I was actively forced out, I believe I am entitled to unemployment compensation from my company under CA state law.
So that's the story. I never commented much on it here because I was so busy, but the social worker who took my case said I have a very good case for unemployment.
Over the years I've been on this site, I've chosen to not reveal the name of the company I had worked for because most of the problems I had with them were because of my district manager, and I never really had a problem with people higher up on the ladder. I worked for a company called [edited out to protect former co-worker's legal case-The Mods]. I strongly recommend nobody buy anything from them, or get hired by them, as it turns out there are people in the corporate ladder just as assholish as the boss I worked for.
If the mods feel I'm breaking any rules regarding naming my company, I won't be mentioning it in the thread again to make it easier to edit it out.
Cast of Characters - I'm changing their names.
Me
Mark - my district manager
Jim - his boss
Veronica - My coworker who is a good friend despite the fact I bitched about her a few times on the site :P
Stacy - the new girl that was hired
I was shuttled back and forth between my showroom and the downtown showroom several days a week as Mark had difficulty in hiring new associates for either location. Many times he instructed me to put the Now Hiring sign up when Jim would be visiting the store and to leave it down during other times.
I was salaried at $300 per week working an average of 45-48 hours a week with a $100 managers stipend added on plus commission. Several times when our numbers were low, I would be threatened with losing my manager’s pay.
The working environment showed signs of being hostile in February. Mark had basically dangled the threat of me losing my management pay for several months prior. On or around the first of the year, my management stipend was converted to a “weekly bonus” on my paycheck, and I was told the bonus was subject to my week to week performance.
It was most affected by the showroom opening on time. Several times during that month, Veronica showed up late and my own pay was docked as a result of it. Mark's reasoning was that since I was the manager of the showroom that I was responsible for getting it opened on time – even on days I didn’t work at that location or had the day off completely. I protested the expectation that I would need to be at the store on my scheduled days off, especially when the round trip to and from work was in excess of 50 miles depending on traffic and frequent road closures, but Mark and Jim subsequently docked my pay several times due to policy transgressions on Veronica’s part during my scheduled days off.
Veronica became pregnant in 2008 and was about to take time off work in February, and we were looking for a new associate to fill her place during the three months she had been promised for. Veronica’s last day of work before leave was early February and Mark had hired a new associate to work down at the downtown showroom, Stacy. Several instances happened the next month that made the work environment hostile towards me and convinced me that I was being actively forced out.
The first incident started about 3 months prior. Every time Veronica showed up late to the store, be it for a doctors appointment or other appointment she had emailed about, Mark demanded I document that she was late, regardless of the reason. It became obvious that they were creating a paper trail when it came time to fire her or to bolden their position since they couldn't terminate her while pregnant as it would open them up to litigation. When I refused to do this, I was repremanded repeatedly by Mark. After I refused to participate in this, sensing what was coming, the environment started to turn hostile.
The second incident came when Jim, Mark, and myself were at the downtown showroom during or near the last week of February. We were engaged in conversation, and I had mentioned I would have been glad to work some extra hours once Veronica came back off of leave to get some overtime. Jim stated in an offhanded comment “Yeah, well, don’t worry about that. She won’t be working for us anymore.” This was told to me in confidence at a managerial level and it set off some red flags that my district manager and his bosss had planned to fire her, but would not fire her beforehand for fear of legal reprisal.
The third incident came later that month when Stacy came to work at my showroom, of which I was still officially the manager according to Mark. Stacy flat out refused to do any assignments or work which she was given by me unless they were specifically handed down by Mark. She told me she had been specifically instructed by Mark to not perform any tasks or activities which I assigned to her, even if they were part of the every day duties required of all our employees, specifically because I was the one that reminded her to do it.
While I simply did these activities for her while I was my showroom, it became a serious problem when I was working at the downtown showroom. Mark would be unavailable for two or three days at a time, and Stacy refused to perform several daily activities, most noticeably taking the cash and checks we would collect to the bank. On more than one occasion, these actions and similar ones forced me to make a decision to choose between violating company policy or running the risk of losing my job. No matter what action I chose I ended up reprimanded, usually in the form of a reduction in my aforementioned “weekly bonus” or threats of my employment being terminated and written warnings. It became obvious that they were creating a paper trail with me the way I refused to do so with Veronica.
The last incident happened in March of 2009. Via e-mail, I was officially demoted from manager and took a subsequent 25% cut in pay. This added to my emotional and physical distress which had been building for the last few months. Due to these health issues and the fact that my commute to and from work would be upwards of 100 miles a day if I had to run between the showrooms as I often did, I would not have been able to keep on working my job at the current level of pay.
Due to the aforementioned incidents, I am fully convinced that Mark and Stacy were conspiring to undermine my position as manager. I am fully convinced that at the very least, Mark and Jim were conspiring to make my employment situation so unbearable that I would seek employment elsewhere, thereby avoiding any chance of reprisal by myself for unemployment compensation.
While I am unsure of how this will affect my claim, there are two more instances which I wish to have on record. During the course of the few years I was at my location, I had developed a loyal repeat consumer base and had made several friends out of customers that would come to see me. I ran into two such individuals during the month of April and they were surprised to see me. They related to me that when they went into my old store, that Stacy helped them. When they asked Stacy about why I was no longer there, Stacy told them that she had been brought in to be trained as the new manager, that I had been fired, and that I had assaulted her, none of which is true. It was very upsetting to hear this from more than one source.
The second incident involves the previous associate who went on leave, Veronica. She was told during the second week of May by Mark to get a doctor’s note clearing her to come back to work. When she was instructed to return to work May 15th, Mark informed her that she no longer had a job at the company. She is also seeking unemployment and is looking to bring litigation against the company through the California labor board, and I have spoken with her social worker assigned to her UI case.
This second incident confirmed what I had been told back in February about Veronica not being allowed to come back to work, and the first incident confirmed my suspicions that Stacy, Mark, and Jim were conspiring together to make my job as unpleasant as possible and force me to quit as opposed to terminating my employment, similar to what they had told me in confidence they were going to do to Veronica.
Due to the hostile work environment and the fact I was actively forced out, I believe I am entitled to unemployment compensation from my company under CA state law.
So that's the story. I never commented much on it here because I was so busy, but the social worker who took my case said I have a very good case for unemployment.
Eric the Grey
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