Lola Belle say's NOT COOL!!
Former PetSmart employee fights back after being fired fordubious reason
By Karin Price Mueller/The Star-Ledger
January 19, 2010, 7:00AM
Eric Favetta brought his dog, Gizmo, to work during an overnight
shift at PetSmart in Secaucus and kept him in the store's empty
doggie 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 his
job at the Secaucus store last month for "theft of service."
The alleged "theft" occurred during an overnight shift Favetta
worked as a favor to his manager.
Favetta brought his dog, Gizmo, to work with him, and the dog
stayed in the store's doggie day care facility -- which at the
time was not manned by any other employee -- while Favetta prepared
the store for a special showing to potential business partners.
"I have always been the type of employee to go the extra mile and
make sure that not only the store was taken care of but that the
employees were taken care of," said Favetta, 31, of Towaco.
PetSmart seemed like a perfect fit to Favetta after his nearly
seven-year stint as a dog handler for various military units in
Afghanistan and Bahrain. He became operations manager -- basically
an assistant manager -- at the Wayne store.
Favetta said he was charged with helping clean up a messy store
where business was suffering. "We began to get compliments from our customers, telling us how
great the store looked and it was a great feeling," he said.
In April 2009, the district manager moved Favetta to the Secaucus
store -- a high-traffic, high-profile store that was in disarray.
At 5 p.m. on Dec. 15, Favetta was asked to work a special
overnight shift that night to prepare the store for a viewing
by representatives for Martha Stewart's company, which was
considering adding its product lines to PetSmart. Favetta said yes.
"I brought my dog with me because I knew if I didn't, he would
have been home alone all day and all night until I returned home
at 6 a.m. the next day," Favetta said.
He did the shift, and Gizmo, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, spent
the night in the empty store's doggie day care facility. Favetta
said he'd check in on Gizmo every 15 minutes or so, and then go
back to work.
Two weeks later, Favetta was asked to meet with his store and
district managers, who requested a written account of his
overnight shift. He complied. They reviewed it and fired him
for "theft of service."
"I was shocked," Favetta said. "It makes me sick that because
I brought my dog to work with me when the store was closed to
do the company a favor, I was called a thief and terminated."
