Opinion ID: 78425
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Terminations of Corbitt and Raya

Text: Less than one month after a formal complaint had been made to McLaughlin and Calhoun reported the sexual harassment on Home Depot's Aware Line, Corbitt and Raya were terminated as employees of Home Depot. The terminations occurred at two different meetings attended by Cavaluzzi and McLaughlin separately with Corbitt and Raya. Right after these terminations occurred, Cavaluzzi called Calhoun, about which Calhoun testified as follows: A: I got a call from Lenny, it was mid morning, he was quite happy, he was calling to let me know that he had gotten Dave and that Dave and Alex had both been fired, and he went into detail about they had been called to a store, the Pensacola store, and they had been brought in there separately and they had been terminated. And their wives were in the pa[r]king lot or somebody's wife was in the parking lot, and he thought that was hilarious. I mean, he justhe went into a lot of detail thatdefinitely he received pleasure from what he was doing and almost was happy that he was being able to report it to me. It was Q: Did Mr. Cavaluzzi take credit for their terminations? A: Yes, he did. Q: Would you say he bragged about it? A: Oh, he was definitely bragging about it. He laughed. In addition, Raya testified that Cavaluzzi told Raya that he had been involved in the investigation which led to the terminations of Corbitt and Raya. When Raya reviewed the investigative file, he found confirmation of Cavaluzzi's claim in a document which listed Cavaluzzi's name as the investigator. Cavaluzzi described the terminations of Corbitt and Raya as group decisions, with every person in the group, including himself and McLaughlin, having input. However, he also explained that [the Home Depot executives] don't put it on us to make the [termination] decision[s]; that's their decision. Because both Corbitt and Raya had tenure with Home Depot due to their ten years or more of employment and because both were store managers, Cavaluzzi and McLaughlin had to obtain approval for the terminations from corporate officers at a level higher than their district/regional management level. Corbitt and Raya claim that the vehicle that Cavaluzzi and McLaughlin used for achieving the terminations was an investigation by Michael Mike Hall, then a district loss prevention manager, of markdown practices that had purportedly been uncovered in early 2005. Hall's job in loss prevention included investigating theft and any other practices that could cause losses in all Home Depot stores within his district. Hall's investigation began in the spring of 2005, and he allegedly uncovered questionable markdowns and discounted sales to customers, employees, contractors, and a competitor. During the investigation, Hall coordinated his efforts with the district manager, McLaughlin. Hall explained that he was a business partner of McLaughlin in the district: He was my business partner, and I had to make sure that he was kept apprised of issues I'd find in the area .... We looked at each other as peers. I was in the same district he was in, so naturally we had to coordinate a lot of items. Throughout the investigation, Hall gave McLaughlin copies of his interim reports and also e-mailed McLaughlin. [4] Hall's investigation report includes several documents that suggest McLaughlin was actively involved in the investigation. For instance, McLaughlin contacted Hall about a list of contractors' names that McLaughlin had discovered on a Rolodex in Corbitt's store, and Hall entered in his notes: District manager Leon McLaughlin notified Mike Hall, DLPM, of the situation and stated that if it developed, he would be asking for assistance. Hall stated that he already knew about this situation when McLaughlin contacted him. Hall's notes indicate that McLaughlin asked that loss prevention look into the items and report back to McLaughlin. In addition, Hall's investigation report includes several letters to McLaughlin responding to his inquiries about markdown practices in the district. Further, Hall's notes reflect that on December 2, 2005, McLaughlin attended Hall's separate investigative interviews with Corbitt and with Raya. Hall testified that he found many violations by many employees in many Home Depot stores during his investigation, and he did not focus on Raya and Corbitt. Nevertheless, sometime in or after October, Hall began pulling documents on Corbitt and Raya that were contained in his file. In November, he provided McLaughlin with a copy of his final report. He also sent the investigation report to the regional management level. Within a short time, Corbitt and Raya were fired. After Hall's investigation report was sent to regional management, Lisa Keglovitz, the regional human resources director and Cavaluzzi's direct supervisor, spoke to Cavaluzzi and informed him that the terminations of Corbitt and Raya had been approved. [5] Cavaluzzi then drafted termination notices for Corbitt and Raya. He included nearly identical language in both notices concerning the grounds for termination. Raya's termination notice provided the following grounds for his firing: It has been brought to District and Regional Managements['] attention that Alex Raya was approving mark downs not consistent with company policy. A thorough investigation was performed; findings showed that on multiple occasions Alex approved mark downs that were not properly authorized or consistent with normal operating procedures as out lined in policy for customers/contractors, associates and competitors. Further investigation also confirmed that Alex used a Nextel phone that was company property for his own personal use. This behavior is a direct violation of Company Policy and the Code of Conduct. As a Store Manager it is expected that you model behavior that is consistent with company policy and the Code of Conduct. Similarly, Corbitt's termination notice stated: It has been brought to District and Regional Managements['] attention that David Corbitt was approving mark downs not consistent with company policy. A thorough investigation was performed; findings showed that on multiple occasions David approved mark downs that were not properly authorized or consistent with normal operating procedures as out lined in policy for customers/contractors, associates and competitors. Further investigation also confirmed that David used a Nextel phone that was company property for his own personal use. This behavior is a direct violation of Company Policy and the Code of Conduct. As a Store Manager it is expected that you model behavior that is consistent with company policy and the Code of Conduct. These notices were signed by Cavaluzzi as the manager approving the terminations. McLaughlin signed the termination notices also as Supervisor/Manager Conducting Counseling Session. The firings were summarily executed. Cavaluzzi flew to Pensacola on the morning of December 13, 2005, and summoned first Raya and then Corbitt into the room separately to fire each man. The termination notices were read aloud, but there was no discussion about the specific policy violations that Corbitt and Raya allegedly committed nor was there any counseling of either manager.