So long Ralph Lauren
Well.. I guess I should have seen this coming a week ago.. they let me go from Polo. Here's what eventually went down.
Sunday - when all the drama initially went down. The cause for the initial posting on LJ.
Monday - I received a call from my manager (the one who sat in with me on Sunday) indicated that I needed to come back in to sign a promissory note; one that they forgot to have me sign on Sunday. She needed me to come in that night to sign it. (Je-sus!) I told her that Monday night was fine because I had wanted to come back up to discuss things with her about how things went down on Sunday. I sign the promissory note indicating that I owe Polo $158.80 for the charges lost to Polo and tell her that I am unhappy with the "meeting" the other day. I told her I felt it was handled unprofessionally and that I felt I was betrayed by her. I told her that I felt the meeting between Kevin and I was handled poorly. She said that she only did what she was told and didn't know what was going to happen and that she was only asked to sit in as a witness. I had told her that I would have appreciated a warning that this gentleman was here to discuss 'Loss Prevention' with me rather than throwing me into the hot seat with this guy. I also confronted her about the merchandise credit that I used for the purchase that I was ultimately there to reimburse.... I asked her why would she allow me to use a merchandise credit for an employee purchase if she knew down the line I would end up being reprimanded for it in the long run? She "assured" me that it wasn't the merchandise credit that got me in trouble but the purchase for my friend that got me in trouble. (How do they know that I purchased these items for my friend and that they weren't gifts for her? I don't know.. I'm working on that.) I had lots of questions for her that she couldn't answer for me because "it's all handed through loss prevention." So, she called Kevin and him and I talked on the phone about the policy which my manager and Kevin were unable to clarify for me. He also told me that he and his boss and talked earlier that day and told me that they are going to through out the issue regarding my sister and her Christmas present. He said that since it was in fact a present for her, I wouldn't have to repay it. Well.. that's a good sign. So, Kevin.. does an issue like this result in termination? He said.. with the documentation you have provided.. I don't think you have anything to worry about. So.. talking to Becky (my manager) and after talking to Kevin.. I felt pretty good.
Tuesday - the manager of the store (Lynette) calls me after work and says that I need to come in and take care of some last minute paperwork. Damn.. this is the 2nd day in a row that I've had to drive up there to take care of this shit. It's a half hour out of my way now that I don't live in Howell. I arrive there and she's on the phone in the back office.. I wait 10 minutes while she finishes up a phone call. She calls me back into the office and begins.. "So, I hear that you've been talking to Kevin Johnson from Loss Prevention.. I just want to get on the same page.. he told me that you'd be willing to take care of your charges within 48 hours?" I'm like, "whatever.. sure." (I never told him I'd be willing to pay within 48 hours, I just asked how I can pay for it..) She then proceeds to tell me that Human Resources had made a decision and since it had been a direct violation of my employee discount that it results in termination. That's all the woman says to me. I hand over my fitting room keys and my lanyard and she walks me out to the register so I can pay for what I owe. All I manage to say is, "I figured this was going to happen when I talked to Kevin he said he couldn't tell me yes or no whether it was going to result in termination." Lynette told me, "He's just an investigator.. he isn't the one who makes the final decision." So, that jokester just strung me along.. why? I have no fucking clue. The way they wanted me to pay was to return all the merchandise and then re-purchase everything without the employee discount.. I was standing at the register for an hour and she had to run back to the office to call Kevin back 3 times to make sure she was doing everything correctly. Come to find out, Becky who originally filled out the promissory note filled it out wrong because she forgot to calculate the cost of tax into the total. So, to avoid future hassle, I just signed a new promissory note to get the hell out of the store. I didn't have to sign a new one because it was originally their mistake but she would have had to start all over and by then I was at wits end with this whole situation. So, I got copies of everything that she did. Before I left she said, "you'll have one last paycheck, do you want to come in and get it or would you like me to mail it to you?" I said, "Mail it to me, you have my address." She said, "You're more than welcome to pick it up in the store." Why the hell would I want to come back in and pick up my check.. just mail the damn thing to me.
Wednesday - I call Kevin to get the number for Human Resources. I must have caught him off guard because he doesn't have the number handy.. (WTF?!) He says.. I can give you the number for the fair employment hotline.. oh wait.. I don't have that one either.. call the 'Make a Difference Hotline' (that's the number employees call when you notice shady behavior happening the store).. yeah.. so I call that number and a woman answers and tells me that they are a third party company and they have no knowledge about Polo nor do they have any contact information for the company. THANKS JACK ASS! He either really didn't have the number handy or didn't want me calling them due to my circumstance. I contact the corporate offices in New York and eventually get a hold of someone in Human Resources who can help me. I talked to the woman on Friday afternoon and she's having my file electronically sent to her so that we can discuss it further.
At this point, I don't want my job back. If I can prevent this shitty attitude happening to anyone else at Polo, I might as well try. I just want to let Human Resources know that if my manager nor Loss Prevention can clearly explain what they consider a gift for friends and family then it's wrongful termination. If nothing comes of it, I don't care. Just the idea that I called and got Kevin's polo whitey tighties in a bunch is good enough for me.
I'm going to take a break with working on the weekends for a while and see if I really need an extra job. If I do.. I may try for Victoria's Secret at the new Brighton mall which is closer to me now than Howell is. I'm 25 years old and I just got fired from my first job ever. Sigh..