Lola Belle say's NOT COOL!!
Former PetSmart employee fights back after being fired fordubious reasonBy Karin Price Mueller/The Star-LedgerJanuary 19, 2010, 7:00AMEric Favetta brought his dog, Gizmo, to work during an overnightshift at PetSmart in Secaucus and kept him in the store's emptydoggie day care facility. Two weeks later, Favetta was fired for"theft of service." Eric Favetta was in the doghouse.A PetSmart employee since July 2008, Favetta was fired from hisjob at the Secaucus store last month for "theft of service."The alleged "theft" occurred during an overnight shift Favettaworked as a favor to his manager.Favetta brought his dog, Gizmo, to work with him, and the dogstayed in the store's doggie day care facility -- which at thetime was not manned by any other employee -- while Favetta preparedthe store for a special showing to potential business partners."I have always been the type of employee to go the extra mile andmake sure that not only the store was taken care of but that theemployees were taken care of," said Favetta, 31, of Towaco.PetSmart seemed like a perfect fit to Favetta after his nearlyseven-year stint as a dog handler for various military units inAfghanistan and Bahrain. He became operations manager -- basicallyan assistant manager -- at the Wayne store.Favetta said he was charged with helping clean up a messy storewhere business was suffering. "We began to get compliments from our customers, telling us howgreat the store looked and it was a great feeling," he said.In April 2009, the district manager moved Favetta to the Secaucusstore -- a high-traffic, high-profile store that was in disarray.At 5 p.m. on Dec. 15, Favetta was asked to work a specialovernight shift that night to prepare the store for a viewingby representatives for Martha Stewart's company, which wasconsidering adding its product lines to PetSmart. Favetta said yes."I brought my dog with me because I knew if I didn't, he wouldhave been home alone all day and all night until I returned homeat 6 a.m. the next day," Favetta said.He did the shift, and Gizmo, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, spentthe night in the empty store's doggie day care facility. Favettasaid he'd check in on Gizmo every 15 minutes or so, and then goback to work.Two weeks later, Favetta was asked to meet with his store anddistrict managers, who requested a written account of hisovernight shift. He complied. They reviewed it and fired himfor "theft of service.""I was shocked," Favetta said. "It makes me sick that becauseI brought my dog to work with me when the store was closed todo the company a favor, I was called a thief and terminated."Visit free image for daily updated images of art collection
