Opinion ID: 78425
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Corbitt and Raya's Evidence in Refutation of Grounds for Termination

Text: The record contains evidence on behalf of both Corbitt and Raya refuting the allegations of wrongdoing which Home Depot contends were the reasons for their terminations. In response to the claim he had made an improper blanket markdown to contractors, associates, and a competitor, Corbitt provided a statement denying that there is or ever was a policy for associates, vendors, or installers to receive automatic discounts, and as to customers, discounts were given on a case-by-case basis depending on the situation, such as damaged material, poor service, or poor installation. Corbitt also noted that according to the standard operating procedures of Home Depot, each manager and associate had a certain dollar authority within which to make these decisions, and he at no time violated the Home Depot policy. Similarly, Raya stated that contractors asked for a ten percent discount, representing that Lowe's gave such a discount. Raya called Lowe's to confirm, which it did. Further, Raya called Sandy Snyder at the Foley Home Depot store and was told that Snyder gave the same discount. Therefore, Raya began to give the markdown from time to time on some sales to contractors, many with express approval of his district manager, Erik Dardas, and only if the sale would be profitable to Home Depot. Raya at first ran by Dardas every markdown of this nature being given until he learned the information Dardas felt was important for approving the markdown; then Raya asked the same questions, and if the sale was profitable, he would approve the markdown. There are additional witness statements in the record providing that the ten percent discount to contractors had been implemented to compete with Lowe's, was a fairly common practice in the district, and had the express approval of Dardas. Dardas admitted that after receiving information from contractors that they were receiving ten percent discounts from Lowe's, he instructed all his store managers that if this was in fact happening, he wanted them to match the offer to keep the customer. During the course of the investigation, Raya was also questioned about the long-ago sale of a door that had been sold twice, returned, was in a damaged condition, and was sold to a Home Depot associate at a discount for $500.00. He explained that based on information McLaughlin and Hall had presented to him much later, the door was not as damaged as he had been told, and he felt that the condition of the door had been misrepresented to him by an employee at the store. Regarding sales to Midway Lumber, a competitor of Home Depot, several witnesses stated that such sales had been approved by higher-level management and that Midway Lumber was a longtime customer of Home Depot. For instance, Calhoun testified that she had been present when Dardas gave Raya permission to make the sales to Midway Lumber and stated that she could name several more people who were witnesses to this authorization. Raya testified that over eighty percent of markdowns in price made to Midway Lumber were first approved by Dardas, and further, under Home Depot's policy, Raya had authority as store manager to approve a markdown of up to $1,000.00 on his own. [6] Additionally, Scott Gayle stated that Dardas challenged Corbitt's store to get the Midway account and that Midway had been their largest commercial account for some time. [7] As to the claim of improper use of a company Nextel phone and improper retention of a store phone after he transferred to another store, Corbitt asserted that when he left the store, he received permission from the incoming store manager to continue using one of the three store Nextel phones for a couple of weeks so he could get the contacts on it switched over to one of his new store's Nextel phones. Further, Corbitt testified that McLaughlin knew he had his former store's Nextel phone and that McLaughlin had called Corbitt on this Nextel phone several times without any reprimand. Moreover, Corbitt offered to produce his personal cell phone bills, stating he used his personal cell phone for personal business as well as company business, and he denied using the company phone for personal calls. With respect to Raya's use of a Home Depot Nextel phone, Raya testified that when he put together the grand opening for the new Pensacola store, people contacting him about the event had the number for his old cell phone. Therefore, Raya continued to use the phone to put together the grand opening, and he gave it back to the Daphne store right after that event was completed. Thus, he used this phone for company business.