Patricia sent a message to Rodney McMullen – Chief Executive Officer of The Kroger Co. email address that said:
Dear Mr. McMullen, My name is Patricia and I live in the beautiful town of Grants Pass in Southern Oregon. When I was growing up we visited Portland, Oregon often where we would go to the original Fred. Many years later as an adult I was thrilled when Grants Pass was to get a Fred, it was a big deal to our town to get such a respectable store with so much to offer our community including many jobs. 18 years and 1 month ago a young man in his 20s joined the Fred team in Grants Pass and set forth to make a career working for this company. Duane is his name and he worked in the Customer Service Department. Over the years he helped many folks with returns , complaints, or just a kind smile as they walked by. Duane was a loyal employee who won many awards in his store, did everything by the book and was looking forward to retiring from this company and yes,collecting his retirement after many hard worked years. Duane was always very careful to never offend anyone, treat all with respect, be fair but also do his job according to the company rules and regulations. Last week Duane made a very costly mistake, he is human and none of us are immune from them. Duane was devastated that he could have done that and mostly letting his employer down. Duane was suspended for 3 days and then called in and fired. Duane never denied he messed up and was willing to do what needed to be done to repay the company or be retrained on how to avoid this future mistake. He was not given the chance! It is sad that a company like yours that has served this community and so many others for so long now are like any other big corporation and doesn't care for loyal employees that have served and bettered their business. Duane was just recently married and is expecting his first child and all the benefits that are so hard to come by anymore were taken from him. I will miss his smiling face in your Grants Pass Customer Service desk as will many who have come to know him. Shame on you Kroger/ Fred for treating your employees like all the other big uncaring corporate companies do, I thought better of you!! Thank you, Patricia
