The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

Trevor Keezer was fired from his job at Home Depot in Okeechobee, Florida, so says the company’s management, for failure to comply with the store’s dress code; he wore a button with the words “One nation under God…indivisible” on his clothing while at work.

There is a veritable minefield of issues here. Everyone from HR types to the ACLU to advocates of religious freedom have weighed in on it. HR points out that Trevor’s button is a clear violation of a clearly documented and reasonable policy; the ACLU says Home Depot’s right to specify employee attire standards have been trampled on (isn’t it refreshing to hear the ACLU stand up for the big guy?); and religious advocates claim religious discrimination.

Home Depot (along with every other employer) certainly has the right to ban non-company-issue buttons from employee clothing. Perfectly reasonable. Apparently his managers gave him a couple of options, including that of wearing another patriotic, but non-religious button blessed by the big orange HQ in Atlanta. They gave him ample opportunity to keep his job. Trevor was warned. He chose not to comply. Sounds like insubordination to me.

So, this HR author and speaker says Home Depot was completely within its rights to terminate Trevor.

And utterly, totally stupid.

Just like the company Bill wrote about in this blog last week, Home Depot has a LOT bigger fish to fry than what its few remaining customer service employees are wearing on their ragged orange aprons. Like making their few remaining customers feel valued, like they did once upon a time, along with a host of other issues more strategic in nature than employees’ uniform accessories.

Nevermind the questionable HR practices – supposedly Trevor had worn the button for more than a year before management raised an objection – and that’ll make the company’s position harder to defend – let’s look at the impact of this decision on HD’s business:

What if nobody had said anything and Trevor went on wearing his button and working at Home Depot?  Some customers would have been warmed by the button’s message; some would have been offended; many wouldn’t have noticed, or had any reaction if they had.  It almost certainly had more of a positive effect than a negative one. Does anyone really think that even one person would have stopped shopping at Home Depot because they saw Trevor wearing his button? Had management exercised a little wisdom, a little leadership, and kept “the main thing the main thing”, no one outside the store would have known about it, I wouldn’t be blogging about it, and it wouldn’t have been all over the news.

But in fact, they did ban the button. Trevor hired a lawyer, who alerted the press, and Trevor got on local and national TV. Lots (certainly thousands, maybe more than that) of people will feel that Home Depot is anti-God (it probably isn’t), and many will stop shopping there, some until they get over it, and others indefinitely. Meanwhile, no one’s going to start shopping at Home Depot, or buy more stuff there just because of the ban.

And as Jay Leno pointed out, the name of God is invoked all the time in Home Depot. “For God’s sake, isn’t there anybody working here who can help me find something?!?!”

There’s no evidence that anyone was complaining about Trevor’s button. It’s not likely the company would have had to spend a lot of money in legal fees had Trevor carried on wearing the button and working at Home Depot. But it will now.

So, the net effect on Home Depot’s business (such as it is) is negative. Trevor got his 15 minutes of fame, and will probably get more job offers than he can shake a broomstick at.

Way to go, Home Depot. I’m glad I sold my stock when I did.

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