So it has finally happened. As of this evening I have been terminated. After a couple of months of proving that I and my team could improve things and did. I was still let go. Passed the LP audit, had a good store walk with the DM who noticed the improvements but I have still have been terminated. My case went all the way to the Senior Director of HR for Staples. A loose quote basically stated that the company didn't believe that I could sustain a level of acceptable job performance with out constant micro management and given my length of employment and even being a sales manager that my level of performance should be much more advanced than it is. Such is the reason why Staples no longer cares to keep me employed. Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty and Respect are the keynotes of how I have always conducted my professional life. I have hundreds of associates and thousands of customers who can attest to this...... Something isn't right.. There has to be other underlying reasons why they have let me go. Age, longevity and level of pay / benefits...... Seems many employees of this company don't make it past 15 years......... I Wrote This......
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This thread is on fire
That is one of the firms that handled the assistant manager overtime pay class action.
@ I wrote this | THANK YOU! Now at least we have the name of a law firm that took on this company before.
You guys get busy contacting them now, if they fkd u, FK EM BACK & ENJOY THE SHT OUT OF THAT LONG FK!
http://klafterolsen.com/contact-us/ This is the law firm that took on Staples before. Send them a note. I did. If enough people respond maybe they will take action.
As much as I would love to see a lawsuit against Staples for this type of thing, they will pull out the PiPs and say termination was for performance. It would take a substantial amount of former employees over a certain age to make a trend evident. But for what it's worth, of anyone does get a lawyer and they think a case can be made, post on this board. I actually framed my PiP, as a badge of courage for attempting to do the impossible. Just remember, feel no shame in it, we fought the good fight while Staples took the low road.
Please find an attorney that specializes in wrongful terminations and Age discrimination. Write your congressperson, let them know what they are doing to you and ask that federal law be changed to punish these companies that engage in this type of behavior.
You were definitely targeted, that's the way staples works!! Consult a lawyer you have a very good case and just so you know you're not alone, many many tenured Managers have done just that. Seriously what do you got to lose. Get a lawyer.
Filed for unemployment. Will wait and see what happens... The GM who was made to fire me is on a PIP a well... About a 7 month delay on delivering it because of an accident and LOA.. Many of my customers and colleagues are dumbfounded by my dismissal. I even had one customer who wanted to start a letter writing campaign to bring attention to my plight... Another who has friends in the media who wanted me to do an expose of Staples practices with senior employees... I just want equality and fairness. Am I the best, stellar employee on the planet ? Nope.... But I'm pretty damned close to it... Just ask my customers and my X employees....... So moving on and fighting the good fight... Just want what's coming to me...... Nothing more......
I have chronicled this all along. The new twist in your story is they have turned the screws to give them the ability to terminate you no matter what happens. There little plans got burned a few times in the past when the stores performance did turn around during the PIP. The curiosity is they don't want the store to improve because the number one goal is TO FIRE YOU, not improve the store.
You should call a lawyer and discuss options. You want one that deals exclusively with wrongful dismissal. Most of the managers being termed are over 50 years old.... that's the key. You will soon realize your better off. It's a failing company that no one enjoys working for and that's only going to get worse.
Sorry to hear. there are a lot of retailers seeking candidates like yourself right now. The economy is good. This is a good time to make a change. Consumer electronic stores are closing and going to the internet. More are hiring and they are looking for your experience.
Same here, they waited until the last day of the PIP, 89 days after it was issued. The 30 day review actually took place on the 60th day. In that time I was used to cover vacations around the district and to help out in stores an hour away for visits. DM praised me for helping, etc etc, then they just let me go, saying I had not met the terms of the PIP. They tried to block unemployment, but the administrator saw through their deceit, having seen many similar cases from Staples in the last few months. Someone I know that still works in my old store texted me saying they overheard a conference call that the GM and DM took in the GM's office. HR and the RVP were on the call talking about appealing all the unemployment hearings they had not been able to successfully block.
Even if you manage to get off a PIP in this dump, they still check up on you. If they don't like what they see, they'll terminate you for cause right on the spot. Did it to me, I was off my PIP and two week later my manager did a check, saw something he didn't like and fired me. Best day of my life though, it was even better that I got unemployment because their reason was bullshit and they show the documentation of what policy I violated.
Do not feel quilt over being fired. There was nothing you could have done to stop them from firing you, no matter how good you were. Staples wanted to replace you with someone making 66% of what your salary, pure and simple. Hopefully you saw this coming from afar, and are not in dire straights for money. Enjoy the time off over the holidays, I know I will. A little bird told me the other day my old store looks like complete crap.
Really feel bad for you, I am in same boat though. Once they have you on that PIP NOTHING you do matters!!!! Enjoy time off for the holidays. They will probably try to block UI, but most states see the game Staples is playing and the number of terminations. They put up a nasty fight over my UI benefits, but the administrator told me he has seen many people termed by Staples lately and he KNOWS they are deceitful and vicious. He has seen more than a few people have physical evidence contrary to what Staples claimed they were terminated for and that has biased him against denying many claimants from Staples.
Sorry to hear the news...I was in the same boat....18+ years, good salary...some of the things you mentioned are almost the exact things I heard. I decided to leave on my terms....moved comps by double digits...moved ASAT from 15 to the 80s....first half of year platinum CSAT...but continued to find something wrong...got to the point that you never knew when the hammer was going to fall....Good luck