When I was 5 months pregnant with Tristan, I got laid off from my job at Barb’s.

I was able to get unemployment the rest of the pregnancy, go on disability and then go back to work when he was 6/7 weeks old. Problem was that I had to find a new job..which was kind of OK since I think my time with Barb had been fulfilled. We were ready to brake apart. But I did want to stay in the design field which was no small feat in the Hudson Valley.

As luck would have it, I found an ad for Williams Lumber in Rhinebeck and they were looking for a Kitchen Sales Coordinator. It sounded interesting and I had experience in project management and tracking, plus it was design related. Yella’s aunt worked there and pulled my resume out, and I went in with a portfolio and was offered the job at the second interview.

Now the job itself was glorified data entry. I was to input into the outdated computer system purchases orders and  invoices, take payments and schedule deliveries. The one saving grace was the kitchen manager, George. George was a very cool boss who I worked hand in hand with everyday. He was more than happy to take my design experience and let me have my fun. So basically I was able to get the “job” part done in record time and then we could have fun working our tails off to make a great kitchen design center.

In a little over a year, we redid the majority of the kitchen displays in the store. Frequently, George and I would do the work ourselves. Meaning, we were on our hands and knees laying new brick floor tiles. In fact the floor in that store will never come up and I have a permanent dent in my finger where the cement gout ate though it. Every grout line was hand pressed by my hand. We painted, we wallpapered, I shopped and displayed. We redid the entire office space bringing it a much more professional feel and making better work areas. I designed systems to keep track of display doors and pieces, control costs, etc. I loved the job, got along great with George and the other designers and basically excelled.

Now in selling kitchen cabinets, which is what the designers did, you get paid on commission. George was a salaried employee and I was hourly. I had to work a 40 hour week, try not to have overtime and clock out a half hour for lunch that I never took. Commissions were tracked in the evil computer, which is what I did, based on the purchase order numbers. Designers assigned the numbers as they placed orders and use their “PO Books” as to not duplicate them. The books each had codes to correlate to the designers…one had a T, another an S, etc..which is how we knew whose customer it was when an order came in. IE a PO with T12345 was for Tom and I would look in his book and see it was for the Jones. All commissions for T orders went into Tom’s money “bucket” and he got paid out at the end of the month.

George and I would sell stuff too, but our PO book was for things charged to the department. So displays, samples, problems with customers that the designer was not to be charged for ( they paid for their mistakes) all went in our book. So when we had a sale, we “gave it away” to one of the designers..meaning we went to their PO book..wrote in an order, and took one of their numbers. It also meant that they got whatever commission was assigned. Sometimes it was nothing..a few knobs, sometimes it was a Corian countertop, or even a few whole kitchens. It didn’t matter really. The idea was to make the customers happy.

Now George had to answer to the CEO whom we will call RayRay. He was a fat weird man with a pechant for irking people. One of those tongue in cheek kinds of guys who would make obnoxious rude statements and then claim to be joking. Ha ha, I offended you? What’s wrong with you..you can’t take a joke? I think he liked to play with people and watch the discord and drama that he inspired. He really liked to play with George and George did not do too well with it. George had great ideas and vision, but he didn’t like to wear his manager “hat” and be a hardass. Basically, they just did not get along at all.

Back to PO’s for a sec. The process of G and I selling and giving away our sales was a KNOWN policy. It was done long before I got there and also in other departments too. VERY IMPORTANT: RayRay knew we did this too. Very distinctly..one time George and RayRay were doing some report thing in our “office” which was very, very small. A guy had come in and I had sold him a Corian Countertop..about a 4K sale which would have about 4 hundred dollars in commissions. I made the sale and when the customer left, I turned to George and said,
Me: “George, who are we giving these too this week?”
G: “Ah, give it to Laura, she is still in the hole. ( meaning this designers weekly “draw” was more than her sales and technically she owed the company money)
RR: “Why do you do that?” like why would we give the sales away??
So at this point G and I chime in together..
“We always do that. Someone has to make the commission and we don’t, so we give it to them”
And he DIDN’T say anything. Nothing along the lines of “Well, they didn’t make the sale so they don’t get commission” or “Don’t go giving away money”..nothing, nada, zip.

So time moves on and things continue to do well. There is some distress over proposed changes in the designers packages, but it calms down somewhat. I am happy. I get to play interior designer. George never treats me like the glorified data entry girl, but introduces me as an interior designer. We handle problems, make people happy, and are doing good work. The company sends me on a training with some other designers to a cabinet manufacturer out of state and I am happy that they are investing money in me. At this point, both Tom and Pam, other designers, are kind of mentoring me and supporting me in becoming a designer. I love my coworkes. All good.

There is talk of expanding an getting more designers. Sue, one of our top sellers, leaves and she is replaced by Jeanne, who also abruptly leaves. At this point, Pam is on vacation and the two left, Tom and Laura, are way behind and telling folks 3 weeks for new designs..which means we lose sales. Tom had been pushing for George to make me a designer and at this point..late August of 2003, he says to me, “I know I will hate myself, but if you are interested..we’ll start moving you over to design”

Of course, I am interested. The designers make 60K a year..working from home with 4 hour store shifts. So I am given a laptop, take it home and learn the program over the weekend and take over the projects that first Sue, now Jeanne left behind. Which means that I have to sell the projects that they almost finished and people are ready to buy. And I do. People like to give me money and I know what I am doing..I am pretty good at this.

BUT the problem is that I am not really a designer yet. I am just doing the job. I still am doing my regular full time job at 40 plus hours a week while George spends the next two months trying to find a replacement. I am also designing at night at home for hours and going on measures and meeting the run over clients at the store. It is not until October that the new girl is trained ( by me) and I am officially moved over to my new desk.

After my first sale, August 2003, I ask George how I should process it. He decided that I should use Tom’s PO book..the thought is that we will know if it’s not one of Tom’s customers then it will be mine. Lack of confusion. In the time frame that I was still an hourly employee, working a 70 hour week and getting paid for 40, I sold about worth of kitchen sales. That netted about 13K profit for the store with 4 and a half in commissions..which were paid out to Tom since they were under his PO book.

Now, at one point, George my trusted boss who has been nothing but good to me, says, “Hey, I’lltalk to Tom and see if he would be into throwing some money your way since you are giving him all your sales and you are working your tail off” Great! I think. And there is no reason to think otherwise. George takes care of me. I am loyal and work hard for George. Finially, someone appreciates me. My hard work is paying off. BAD STUPID IDEA.

If I would have thought for one second that it might have turned out like it did..ah, hindsight.

Anyway, Tom, being the super nice guy that he is, figures out what I sold vs what he sold, took out what he had to pay in taxes and gives me my money to the penny..cash, in an envelope. Just in time for Christmas. He also does the same for sales that George put in his book. I don’t know, but what people do with there money after it is theirs is their business in my eyes. George and I had had the conversations before. He sold a huge kitchen to a friend of his wife’s and gave the whole Sale to Laura. We both kind of thought it was pretty rude for her not to thank him for giving her a couple of thousand bucks. And how nice it would have been for her to throw some his way..it seemed like common courtesy really. At one time, Laura and I were talking about me, before I was a designer, working on another kitchen for my old boss Barb…and Laura had offered the same. Sell under her and she would give me the commissions. Illegal? Not when it was established department policy of putting commissioned sales under other people and the CEO knew of the practice.

We have a good Christmas, On Christmas eve, I go into the office to sign contracts for a 100K sale..one of the biggest in department history and unheard of in a new designer. I am kicking ASS. I am not going to be in the hole at all. I have sales lined up to keep me in commissions until March.

George, on the other hand, is having a rough time. His mother has cancer and dies right before the holidays, He is missing a lot of work due to her illness. RayRay and him are on the outs.

January comes, I am still rocking it. I am so excited. It’s the first month I get a real commission check and it’s gonna be a good one. I have finally made it. I have found my niche in life. I can pay my bills with ease. I can realistically think about taking my family to Disney. It has paid off. I am good.

February 4th and I am asked to come on over to the Accounting managers office. Waiting for me is RayRay, and Susan the personnel chick and a huge pile of department folders that are covered with my handwriting in my telltale green pen. The interrogation starts.

Whose clients are these? Why then are they under a Tom PO number? Did he ever meet with them? Who signed these contracts? What did you get for it? What did George do? Were you aware that George padded his time? Etc., etc., etc.

Now to all these questions, the answers were pretty obvious. There was a paper trail a mile wide. Why? Because nothing was attempted to be covered up because no one thought that they were doing anything wrong! All over these folders, my distint green handwriting in huge architectural font. All over, my signature.

It didn’t matter when I reminded RayRay that we had always done it like that. That he knew! That once we had an official PO book for me and I switched over jobs, I had my own numbers. The only difference was that this time it was on a larger scale. This time they paid out almost in commissions. I guess that was just too painful. Never mind that they made another 13K off of my hard work..13K in sales that would not be in their pocket at all if I had not worked 70plus hours a week for almost 3 months without any other compensation by them. In fact, RayRay had acted like they were doing me a favor, meanwhile, I had turned that whole place around from an ugly dive, dusty dive to a stylish and awe inspiring design center.

It was brutal. It felt like I was in there forever. Towards the end, I could tell that it could only end in a bad way. I was angry and spoke in single words after realizing that nothing I said would hold any sway. They knew what they were doing and they had an agenda. Convienintly, George had been sent to another store on an education thing. I was not going to be rescued.

I was uncerimouniously fired and escorted to my car. I was not allowed to return to my desk and my stuff was to be packed by the girl I trained as my replacement. My jacket and bag were waiting by the door. Somehow, I did not cry.

Totally shocked and dismayed, my first thought was that it was a total set up and I had to warn George. He was up North. I also thought that I had to warn Tom coz if they went after me, then they were also after him. My gut feeling was that they were really after George since he and RayRay had issues, and this was just the reason they needed. But since I was not allowed back to my desk, my binder with all my contacts was in it. I went to the Redhook Diner and used their phone. I called Tom’s home number and left a message. I tried Pam’s home number to get Tom’s cell. No luck. I tried to call George at the Hudson Store but they wouldn’t let my call go though. It was fishy. I knew they knew. Then I got in my car and kept on driving North to intercept George on the way back from the Hudson Store.

I drove up 9G like a bat out of hell mentally talking to George the whole way..”Come on George, where ARE you!” finally I saw his car and turned around in the gravel resembling a scene from the Dukes of Hazard. He was driving fast and I drove faster, getting right behind him, flashing my lights , honking my horn, arms out the window, yelling…After what seemed like three miles, he noticed me and pulled over.

He was equally puzzled and then flabbergasted by my news. The first thing out of my mouth was “RayRay fired me!” then, “It was a trap!” We stood by the side of the road, cars whizzing by and I filled him in on the days happenings. I think at first he thought he could go in there and make it all right, but it was dawning on him that he too, was also in danger. We decided to hunt down Tom. Though he lived close we were not sure as to where exactly. Eventually we did find him at home, already fired like me. I guess they had it timed. The ushered me out and then him in for his interrogation and termination.

Tom had a tidy little trailer and we sat, us three, in complete dismayed. We had worked so hard, we had planned so much just to see it smashed beyond all possible recognition. I felt guilt upon all else as I knew that both of them had just done right by me out of their trust and belief and good nature. Eventually, George too had to go back and face them. They were lying in wait for him and he never had a chance.

I drove home hours after the actual firing, not knowing what to do next. I remember walking in and Rye asking me what’s wrong. He joked and asked, “What? Did you get fired?”
“Yeah”

He thought I should call the owner Sandy Williams and get my job back. I knew that was not going to happen. I had the image of RayRays gleeful face, red with anger, only inches from mine:”There will be no recourse!” Stressed out, we fought over it.

Mine was the sole income coming in and without it we were strapped. Somehow we waited for my income tax check which was a healthy chunk of change to live off of. Williams was holding out last pay checks and my first ( and last) happy commission check. At first they were refusing to hand them over, but suddenly they relented.

The I began to pull myself up again and hunt for another job. At least now I could call myself a Kitchen Designer. It opened all new doors. Pam had worked for the head competition and called him to speak to me. We met for lunch and though he liked me and was impressed with my work, the rumors were already cirrulating. I was of questionable character. Which was horrible to me for IF I had any inkinling that this could have happened then there would have been NO WAY that I would have jeopardized the opportunity. I would have killed myself and worked like a dog just for the opportunity to better my income and have a shot at the job. Heck, I did that anyway. The only thing I was guilty of was being a trusting, optimistic fool.

I found a great job lead up in Saratoga and rocked the interview. It was a great opportunity in a small creative studio that got lots of magazine play. The owner and I hit it off well enough that they wanted to bring me in and just let me run with interior services as well as kitchens. We found a town up there that had super cheap houses. One day we were ready to move, and they were talking start dates, what kind of desk chair I preferred and how they could accommodate my family with a health care plan. It was going to be like 100K a year, creative control, full commissions and benefit package.

The next morning the “new” boss called at 8:30 am.
“The offer is off the table.”
“What?”
“The job, we hired someone else.”
“Why? I don’t understand. Yesterday, we were good to go. We were talking of moving”
“Yeah, well I spoke to Williams Lumber last night and there is too much conflicting stories. It’s off the table. It’s not happening”
“Oh”
click

RayRay was the only one that he could have spoken to “at night”. In NY all he could legally do was confirm the dates that I had worked there and my pay. It was illegal for him to blacklist me, but with vengeance, he did.

But that was not enough revenge for Williams Lumber. Come April, the State Police started to call asking questions. They wanted me to come talk to them. If it wasn’t scarey before, it was really scarey now. We scrambled and retained a lawyer. The lawyer said that I was not to speak of to them unless he was there and they should call and set it up. I met with him and told him the whole story. He found it almost funny as it was so pathetic of a case. Considering I was working overtime, for the good of the company, and not getting paid to do so, I was following my immediate supervisions direction, following known company procedure and with the assumed knowledge of the next higher up, and didn’t plan or execute anything with out the best of intentions.

The police didn’t laugh and we received notice that I was to turn myself in and be arrested. Charged with grand larceny and conspiracy to defraud, I put on my best and brightest outlook and went to get my mug shot and palm prints. Tom also joined me and we got arrested together. George followed some days later.

We would spend the next year almost going to court once a month. The plan was to fight it as it was bogus really, but the lawyers jobs were to make it go away with as little pain as possible to us. Georges lawyer had George now saying that he knew nothing about anything which kind of sucked for Tom and myself. It was also a huge lie. It also really really pissed me off since I alone knew that George got himself a whole new kitchen from Williams and never paid for it. He intended to, but they fired him before he did and I know they never found that paperwork with “Display” written all over it. I know he didn’t try to screw me and being a nice guy got us all in trouble, but now he was not about any kind of loyalty anymore. It was every man for himself.

The DA was all about “poor Williams” and the horrors of what we did. I have to say that I did not like her at all. There was talk to restitution which would result in dropped charges, but it took Williams all summer to say that they would accept the amount “stolen” or defrauded or whatever. Finally, it was put to us that it would be cheaper to just pay them off and have it be done then fight it out, Never mind what was right or true. Nevermind what really happened and what the motives were. Never mind that the same practices were still going on at the store. It’s America..if you have money you can have justice, but if you are poor and you still owe your lawyer 3 thousand dollars and a trial will cost another 10 thou and two years, then you give up all hope of being innocent until proven guilty and just be happy that you can pay them off.

Tom and I agreed to pay just so that we could be done and move on with life. George still claimed the fool with his head in the sand. But Murphy’s law, when it was time to pony up the bills, we were a bit high and dry again. Now I spent some serious hours in court and I watched DUI after DUI come in and they had months to pay off hundreds of dollar fines, but I had a month to come up with $2,300.00. When I didn’t have it, the DA was livid. WHen my attorney explaned that I had had a really rough year finding other work as they backlisted me in the industry, she declared,
“Well who can blame them? After what she did to them?”
So their blantent non compliance of labor laws was OK, and I was guilty without trial. I swear she had a free new kitchen coming to her, or she had just bulit a new house and had lots of “special” costs for her lumber.

She was so awful, that I did cry. They talk about you as if you are not there. They treat you like dirt. The lawyers and judges and DAs are all joking and laughing and expect you to be happy that you are getting off as good as you do. I sat there, crying, tears streaming down my face,listening to them argue about how awful I a was since I didn’t have an extra two thousand dollars in my bank account the week after Christmas. The DA was going to make us all go to trial. Finially, the probabtion guy, who was not even involved in the case, pulled them all over and made a compromise.

Tom would pay his half and be done, George would just ride our coattails and get off completely never to be seen from again, and I would plead GUILTY to a reduced felony of just larceny ( tha grand being reduced as Tom paid off his), and have a year to pay it off as long as I went to “interm” probation. Basically that means that once a month, I give them money. Then in 6 months of zero balance, I would be cleared of all charges.

It’s is finally over. Almost two years to the day. I just returned back from court. My final payment was $666. How fitting is that. The devil’s number.

The saving grace, or some satisfaction, is that in the two years since this happened, since massacering their kitchen department, Williams has lost well over a million in sales. They have gone through over 12 more designers and like 4 managers. They spent over 6 million on a new store and then escorted out that manager. And customers just don’t like them.

I hope they burn in hell..all of them. What gets me is that the 4plus K that they were so “wronged”of…was nothing to them. Gas for Sandy’s Hummer for a month, Kelly’s bar tab. They weren’t happy with the 13 K they made off of me, not to mention all th free design services, no..they wanted it all. Greedy bastards.

I never got paid for my three months of overtime. When my record is clear, I will take it up with the labour board. I want to sue them for blacklisting me. If anyone knows a lawyers who is interested..none around here will touch them. The family is too powerful. It’s like small town redneck mafia.

So, I tell people this story and I say “Don’t give them your money. They are not nice people”

And you know..the funny thing. If all they really wanted was their money back..the commissions that no one should have had because I was still hourly and I guess they owned me, then they should have just docked it from Tom over the next 6 months. We would have straightened it out ourselves, and been good happy grateful employees after that. They did not have to make our lives living hell.

So don’t go there. Don’t buy their stuff. Bad people, I tell you. Bad mean people.