Red Ventures surprised dozens of recent new-hires this week by accusing them of manipulating their work records and avoiding their duties. Red Ventures then informed the employees of their "Final Warning" before they were "fired for cause."
After Red Ventures fired a portion of the employees, they shut down the program they were working on and then laid-off the rest of the people on the project. Some are speculating the pre-layoff firings were to reduce the number of people that were technically being laid off so Red Ventures could avoid the state labor law forcing them to alert the state of any large lay off and avoid paying severance packages to the full affected staff.
As several new hires were recent graduates of Appalachian State University, that college's Career Development Center is investigating the situation. The Charlotte Observer is also investigating.
If you are involved in this layoff and wish to contribute to the investigations, you can contact Deanne Smith (Assistant Director, Employer Development and Relations) smith2dr@appstate.edu and/or Katherine Peralta (Business Reporter) kperalta@charlotteobserver.com.