It’s time for another odd late night post from me about something that won’t really do you any good, however it might spark a decent conversation. Earlier today while having lunch I was watching Headline News when this story of a Home Depot employee terminated for wearing a button popped up on the screen, it instantly prompted me to call my the office staff into the room to hear the story.
Anytime something comes up on the news about Home Depot I always turn my ear towards the TV and listen, I worked for Home Depot for 10 years at multiple positions in three different states and ten different divisions. Even though I no longer work there I still carry so many of the tools that I was lucky enough to collect while I worked at Home Depot with this very day, yeah I have a sweet spot. Big deal.
Anyway watch the vieo below and take a second to leave a comment and let me know if you think this Home Depot employee should have been terminated or not, hence the title “To Terminate or Not?”
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: earningstep
i vote for note…with full voice…
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I can see both sides. It’s just a shame HD tried to make the kid choose which he valued more. It looks like HD lost a good motivated employee, and will probably lose a publicity campaign if the kid decides to press it.
He stood up for his beliefs. Nothing wrong with that, but he should be thankful he doesn’t have a family to support. That would be a tough decision.
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wow…people are going to hate me here but…
Insubordination is insubordination on any level…step back from the “God” controversy…the company has a policy in place that says no buttons on the uniform unless they are company approved buttons, period end of discussion. If you don’t agree with a companies policies you have one of two choices…don’t take the job or take the job and follow the rules anyway…
When you work for someone else its about them, not about you! Are you going to work for no paycheck when that company is struggling or trying to expand?? Are you going to have sleepless nights trying to figure out how to keep everyone happy, pay the bills, stay on target and so on?? NO, thats why you work there instead of owning it…Everything an employee does is a reflection on the company and its owners which is why rules and regulations are put into place…if you get bad service by “Bob” at the Jiffy Lube you don’t go around saying “Bob” sucks, you go around saying Jiffy Lube sucks…think about it!!
I thought I would need to hear more of this story to come to an honest conclusion of how I feel but the reality is the company had a rule, the employee broke the rule, the company said hey this is what you did wrong please correct the problem and the employee said screw you I’m going to do what I want so now he has to face the consequences of that! I’m sure the company has no issues with him having a bumper sticker on his car with the exact same saying, I’m sure the company had no issues with him reading the bible, that was thrown in to make this a whole different issue than what it truly is!!
It all boils down to living in a very selfish; me, me, me society!!! His termination has nothing to do with God, the Bible or Religion…it has to do with someone not getting their way so now they are throwing a temper tantrum of sorts and making someone else out to be the bad guy just because they didn’t want to follow the rules!!!
My opinion is fire him, deservedly so!
Twitter: extremejohn
@Tracy (trackbrat on TTF), you really let it go huh TB? Nice to see you commenting here.
Twitter: tanninginfo
Now, if like Tracy says, it is an issue about he shouldn’t have been wearing any buttons at all, then I would say that yes, he probably deserves to be terminated. But if other employees were allowed to wear buttons and he was terminated simply for the content of his button, then he should press it and make this an issue. I have worked in customer service jobs where there was an official “rule” not to wear any pins or additions to our name tags, but people did it all the time and no one was ever fired for it.
Twitter: extremejohn
@Hot Tanning Beds, please note that as employees of Home Depot you can only wear Company Issued Buttons.
Twitter: websiteweekend
Tough call.
If they were slack on everyone else’s buttons, and used policy as a way to selectively enforce, then they should be fined big $$$. If they enforced the policy uniformly, he has no case at all. He broke the rules. That’s how it is.
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Twitter: blogsterblogsire.com
I’m with John on this one, as long as the company actually has a policy that only company accepted badges can be worn. Too bad they didn’t tell him that on day 1 on not month’s down the track.
Twitter: extremejohn
@Sire, I really haven’t shared my full view on the situation just yet I am waiting to see what everyone else has to say.
What I will say is that I am really surprised to see the voting split down the center, I thought for sure this was going to one way.
Twitter: blogsterblogsire.com
@Extreme John, Truthfully John, I almost voted the other way, but then the employer in me kicked in. I must admit though they did give him a warning and the chance to wear another company approved badge and he refused.
The problem is that by not punishing him it would set a bad example for other employees which may result in mayhem further down the line.
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Twitter: extremejohn
@Sire, all though I haven’t shared my opinion yet I will say this to everything you said… Yessir!
Twitter: SwollenThumb
Wow, it’s hard for me to put it any better than Tracy, so I’ll just add my two cents in addition to Tracy’s comment.
I vote in favor of Home Depot. Personally I’m a deist, and I’d like to think that my religious orientation doesn’t affect my voting, because I believe in religious tolerance. I feel like I’m in the minority though, because few people actually believe in religious tolerance, they just want tolerance for their specific religion. They want special treatment for THEIR religion and they want other religions to be stifled.
Point in case, imagine that there was also a Muslim, a Hindu, and a Buddhist working at the same Home Depot, and they all noticed that Trevor was allowed to use company time to passively work to convert customers to his faith. He claims that he’s “standing up for God”, so why can’t they stand up for their “Gods”? (Even though Buddha wasn’t a god, he still serves a purpose in this example) So now you have something of a “religious war” going on within the walls of the business which could lead to problems in which polarizing the customers would be the among the concerns as well as alienating the workers and affecting the morale.
If you want to be a messenger of God, either apply for a job where you know you can do so, or start your own business and make your own rules. When you work for a company you are representing them, not you, and not your god. You are SACRIFICING your personal time, your attention, and your image for a paycheck. It is wrong for a company to infringe on your right to believe in what you want to, but they have every right to work to maintain an image that is conducive to their values.
One more thing, so many people are so quick to take the side of the little guy in events like this. They think that big business is always evil. But before you point the finger at Home Depot, consider this. A 2004 poll showed that 9% of people in the U.S.A. are atheists, and I’m sure that number is growing. As a business owner, would you be that eager to possibly throw away 9% of your customer base over something that has absolutely nothing to do with your line of work? Why alienate people when you have the ability not to?
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Twitter: extremejohn
@Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment, very well written Trey and you added greatly to what Tracy had to say as well.
I will say that I should have searched for the Headline News video for this post as well, it’s really amazing just how differently various media outlets will push the story in one direction or the other. This video is of course making the employee out to be the unlucky lamb, where the Headline News video was not into backing him so much.
Twitter: ditesco
Another controversy in the making. A quick decision compels me to answer that rules are rules and so is policy. It might have been harsh to terminate him for such sole reason and maybe would have let him go with a warning. Nevertheless, company policy must be strictly enforced so as to avoid problems with other employees. Maybe, HD should revise their policy about company buttons and say that as long as the button is not promoting a competitor, its OK. That’s my take
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Twitter: extremejohn
@DiTesco, yeah but on the flip side of that does that mean I can wear a button with half naked girls on it because it is not a competitors button? Thats where you are on the money, rules are rules ya know. With so many associates you can’t really have little openings for anything or it creates the opportunity, once that opp is there forget it. haha
Twitter: NedCarey
Tracy wrote:
>Insubordination is insubordination on any level…step back from the “God” controversy…the company has a policy in place that says no buttons on the uniform unless they are company approved buttons, period end of discussion.
Normally I would agree but look at the facts in this case (at least according to the report). The company knew about the button and failed to do anything for a year! A supervisor implied acceptance of the button. Only after seeing him reading his bible was the issue brought up and he was fired. It would appear that he was fired for his religious beliefs not his “insubordination”
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