Company guy who lost it all because someone anonymously called the awareness hotline and lied
Pros
Set hours allowed me the opportunity to be involved in my children's extracurricular activities and also within my community. Working on the MET team was nice because it was a different environment each day. For me, I like to interact with people so I also enjoyed the opportunity to assist customers.
Cons
Just as all companies have those employees who still think they are in high school, so does The Home Depot. I was the senior employee of the MET Team and was going to be assigned a store close to my home and because of my above average evaluations was scheduled to receive a nice raise this year. I never received any type of disciplinary action during the eight years employed there. A co-worker anonymously called the awareness hotline on me and the third party vendor did a telephone investigation of the complaint asking if I had ever threatened anyone or spoke down to my peers in a way that made them feel intimidated. I told them I hadn't and the story was completely bogus and my file spoke for itself. I also requested they speak to my manager and ask him directly because he and I had a great working rapport. Instead, they interviewed only 3 members of a 20 member team (why it was these three I don't know - they did not interview my manager or the people I worked one on one with daily) Evidently, the complaints made through the awareness hotline happen frequently and most are documented unless gross misconduct is proven. I really thought I had nothing to worry about. But, the next day I was terminated and I was never given a detailed description of the allegation, only that I was found to have violated The Home Depot's harassment policy. When the company who conducts the investigations becomes involved, management and local HR representatives are not involved. All decisions are based on the the vendor. So, it didn't matter what my district manager had to say, or the fact that I had perfect evaluations for the last 3 years, and absolutely no progressive discipline on file. I filed unemployment and received it because the unemployment office determined I was not terminated for just cause. I have a family of three children and to have this happen completely expectantly was devastating. I wish they would address these allegations in a different manner. Employees should have the right to defend themselves from their accusers. I didn't even know what I was supposed to be defending myself from. Very disappointing, I was very much a company guy.
