Like many of us, Jacob was a worrier. A worrier because his mom is a warrior...she is a cancer survivor and he worries about her because by all rights he should have lost her some years back to this Berkett's Lymphoma , a mother of 3 special needs kids. He worries about her well being, he worries about his brothers ,their dog and the two cats... and to help them out, Jacob recently took a job at Jewel in Rolling Meadows out there on Kirchoff Road. It was his first job and he was proud to be in produce--the section to which he was assigned. This new employment would help pay the bills for his financially strapped family and put a few bucks in his own pocket, the better to one day buy a car.
For months before he got this job, Jacob was involved and invested in an annual fundraiser to benefit St.William Parish. He was an important part of a show that was in rehearsal. Jake likes to make folks laugh and he's good at it, and he was sharing his talent for the benefit of a church to which he did not belong.
Upon being hired, Jacob made it clear to the manager of the store that he was willing to work any hours to which he might be assigned...but as the event he had been working on for months was near, he said that there were just 3 days he would not wish to be scheduled. Those nights were dress rehearsal and the two days of the event. He wrote down the days he would not be available for the benefit of the store manager.
Jacob went to work in the produce section of the Jewel on Kirchoff Road and he enjoyed the job even when the produce manager called him an idiot and chided him when he didn't understand something. "This isn't rocket science," the produce manager sneered. And he wasn't aware that Jacob heard him mumble "Idiot".
And just as Jacob had worried, when the week of the big event at St.William arrived, the store manager scheduled him to work the 3 days he had asked to be free to fulfill his obligation to the other volunteers at the charity event.
He met with the store manager and reminded him of his unavailability for those 3 days but that manager claimed he didn't remember that particular condition. Jacob said he would be glad to work extra hours, any day..he wanted that job and he wanted to be there for those depending on him at St.William. The store manager would have none of it. Jacob asked if he would be fired were he to work the fundraiser those 3 days.
"I don't fire people," the manager said. "People fire themselves." Jacob reminded the manager that he had written the request for those 3 days off down for the manager weeks ago. But it seems that request had been lost. "And if it's not written down, it didn't happen," Jake was told.
Jacob stood up for what he thought was right, He showed up for his duties at the fundraiser and he sacrificed a job he liked and needed ..even with the verbal abuse.
Put in a situation where he needed to decide between a job he needed and a charity event that needed him, Jacob chose the latter even though he was put in a bad situation needlessly. Surely Jewel would not shut down if one employee was allowed to give back to his community- an ideal that one would think Jewel would applaud instead of block.
The store manager didn't get back to me as I had requested, so Human Relations became involved and promised an investigation into the incident would be conducted.
"Please know the information shared (by you) will be treated seriously and followed up with appropriate action taken," said Melissa Hill, Jewel's director of Public Affairs and Government Relations. She promised the HR department would be contacting Jake.
A week later, nothing had been done and no one had called Jake as had been promised. A letter to Ms.Hill asking why nothing had been determined resulted in an email from another member of Jewel's HR department.
"The status and results of the investigation are confidential,please know that any appropriate action needed, will or have been taken."
But no one had ever called Jacob so that's a hell of an investigation...not talking to the victim. When I pointed this out, magically, Jacob was called. This "investigation" is ongoing.
At the least, Jacob should be issued an apology from that manager of the Jewel on Kirchoff Road for putting Jacob in a situation like that--forced to choose between his job and his community obligations,and for good measure, an apology for being called an "idiot" by a produce manager who certainly doesn't display the people skills most stores would like to see in their employees. Maybe an invitation to work at another Jewel location to help mom with those bills. And as I mentioned earlier, shouldn't a store like Jewel celebrate employees who involve themselves in the community? Doesn't it show character and good moral fiber and isn't that what most employers seek in a new hire? Well, not at the Jewel on Kirchoff Road it seems.
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