Please don't shop Christoper & Banks!
Nov 23rd 2001, 9:54 pm
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hey everyone! Hope you had a brilliant Thanksgiving. Shopping season is apon us. For
those of you who are considering buying women's clothing either for yourself or a
loved one, please read the following article from a Seattle newspaper about the
heartless jerks who run the Christopher & Banks chain and consider spending your
Christmas money elsewhere.
Want to contact C & B directly? Please do so! Get contact info at:
http://www.braunsfashions.com/contact/
(And please forward this to as many people as possible!)
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local...kidney22.shtml
She saves mom, gets fired for it
Store says giving woman time off to donate kidney would have set 'precedent'
Thursday, November 22, 2001
By CAROL SMITH SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Nancy Bevilacqua gave the gift of life -- a kidney to her mother.
And got fired for it.
Bevilacqua, who was an assistant manager for the Christopher & Banks clothing store
in Silverdale's Kitsap Mall, was fired last month for donating a kidney just before
the start of the holiday gift-buying season.
"I was devastated," she said. "I couldn't believe a corporation would do that."
Bevilacqua told her employers before they hired her that she was going through the
testing process to try to donate a kidney to her mother, Sharon Kibler.
That was fine with the local manager, who not only hired her in January, but rallied
support to cover her position during the anticipated transplant date in July.
"We were a perfect match, my mom and me," Bevilacqua said. "It was as if we were
identical twins."
Then the 62-year-old Kibler, who was not tolerating dialysis well, started failing
fast. The surgery was deemed too risky and was canceled at the last minute.
"We were devastated," Bevilacqua said. "It was a virtual death sentence for
my mother."
Unexpectedly, however, her mother restabilized. Kibler, a diabetic for 25 years, was
once again strong enough to withstand the transplant surgery.
"We were emotional basket cases, we were so excited," recalled Bevilacqua. "Everyone
in the vicinity was getting a hug."
But her hopes came crashing down six days before the surgery when her boss told her
she was fired.
"I was aghast and shaken up," she said. "To go from one extreme to another."
The decision came from corporate headquarters.
"Allowing the leave could have created a precedent whereby other leaves not covered
by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which were denied, could have resulted in a
perception of discrimination," said John Prange, vice president of human resources
for the 353-store chain, headquartered in Minnesota. "We empathize with her
situation."
The firing outraged the medical staff at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, which
performed the transplant.
"All of us were just shocked when we realized the implications," said Dr. William
Marks, who heads up the transplant service and is also medical director of LifeCenter
Northwest, the regional organ-procurement agency.
"This sends an unbelievably negative message. Giving a kidney is a tremendous gift to
society as well as a gift to the individual," he said.
When a live donor gives a kidney, it takes one person off the list, leaving others
more chance to receive scarce cadaver organs. There are currently more than 52,000
people, including 800 in the Northwest, waiting for kidneys -- a wait that can last
up to two years or more, Marks said.
And every day more than 16 people die waiting for organ transplants of all kinds.
Kibler was heading that way.
"Without a kidney transplant, Sharon would not have been able to live on continued
hemodialysis," said Louise Kato, social worker for the transplant team.
Christopher & Banks corporate headquarters informed Bevilacqua that her leave was
denied because she hadn't worked long enough to qualify for Family Leave Act
benefits. Bevilacqua had worked there just under 10 months, and the law requires at
least one year.
But when Bevilacqua asked why she had been granted the leave the first time the
transplant was scheduled, she said she was told: "That was July. This is the
Christmas season."
Prange didn't dispute that. Last summer, he said, "business staffing needs were less
critical."
Bevilacqua pleaded for an exception, telling them her mother's life was literally on
the line. The company said it couldn't make an exception.
Local employees were shattered.
"I loved my job. We were like a family there," she said. "Everyone was crying and
hugging me."
Bevilacqua may have lost her job, but her mother got her transplant on Oct. 15.
"It's made a new person out of me," Kibler said. "I feel more alive than I have in
years. It's really unbelievable."
Before the surgery, she spent much of her day lying down. If she wanted to make a
peach cobbler, her husband would assemble all the ingredients for her, but just
cutting the butter into little pieces was enough to send her back to bed.
Now she's looking forward to making her traditional dozen batches of peanut brittle
at Christmas.
Bevilacqua's own recovery from the donor surgery is also going well. Full recovery
takes between two and three months. Mother and daughter are staying in an apartment
close to Swedish for follow-up care. They will be officially discharged Dec. 1.
In the meantime, she can't collect unemployment because she is still recuperating and
can't actively look for a job.
Bevilacqua, who has four children by a previous marriage, and her husband, who works
two jobs, live modestly in an apartment in Silverdale.
Losing one income has been hard, she said. "We go paycheck to paycheck."
She plans to start looking for work again in retail as soon as the doctors clear her.
Prange said the company would welcome Bevilacqua back.
There's little chance of that.
"I do not want to work for a company with such a low opinion of human life," she
said.
© 1998-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
those of you who are considering buying women's clothing either for yourself or a
loved one, please read the following article from a Seattle newspaper about the
heartless jerks who run the Christopher & Banks chain and consider spending your
Christmas money elsewhere.
Want to contact C & B directly? Please do so! Get contact info at:
http://www.braunsfashions.com/contact/
(And please forward this to as many people as possible!)
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local...kidney22.shtml
She saves mom, gets fired for it
Store says giving woman time off to donate kidney would have set 'precedent'
Thursday, November 22, 2001
By CAROL SMITH SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Nancy Bevilacqua gave the gift of life -- a kidney to her mother.
And got fired for it.
Bevilacqua, who was an assistant manager for the Christopher & Banks clothing store
in Silverdale's Kitsap Mall, was fired last month for donating a kidney just before
the start of the holiday gift-buying season.
"I was devastated," she said. "I couldn't believe a corporation would do that."
Bevilacqua told her employers before they hired her that she was going through the
testing process to try to donate a kidney to her mother, Sharon Kibler.
That was fine with the local manager, who not only hired her in January, but rallied
support to cover her position during the anticipated transplant date in July.
"We were a perfect match, my mom and me," Bevilacqua said. "It was as if we were
identical twins."
Then the 62-year-old Kibler, who was not tolerating dialysis well, started failing
fast. The surgery was deemed too risky and was canceled at the last minute.
"We were devastated," Bevilacqua said. "It was a virtual death sentence for
my mother."
Unexpectedly, however, her mother restabilized. Kibler, a diabetic for 25 years, was
once again strong enough to withstand the transplant surgery.
"We were emotional basket cases, we were so excited," recalled Bevilacqua. "Everyone
in the vicinity was getting a hug."
But her hopes came crashing down six days before the surgery when her boss told her
she was fired.
"I was aghast and shaken up," she said. "To go from one extreme to another."
The decision came from corporate headquarters.
"Allowing the leave could have created a precedent whereby other leaves not covered
by the Family and Medical Leave Act, which were denied, could have resulted in a
perception of discrimination," said John Prange, vice president of human resources
for the 353-store chain, headquartered in Minnesota. "We empathize with her
situation."
The firing outraged the medical staff at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, which
performed the transplant.
"All of us were just shocked when we realized the implications," said Dr. William
Marks, who heads up the transplant service and is also medical director of LifeCenter
Northwest, the regional organ-procurement agency.
"This sends an unbelievably negative message. Giving a kidney is a tremendous gift to
society as well as a gift to the individual," he said.
When a live donor gives a kidney, it takes one person off the list, leaving others
more chance to receive scarce cadaver organs. There are currently more than 52,000
people, including 800 in the Northwest, waiting for kidneys -- a wait that can last
up to two years or more, Marks said.
And every day more than 16 people die waiting for organ transplants of all kinds.
Kibler was heading that way.
"Without a kidney transplant, Sharon would not have been able to live on continued
hemodialysis," said Louise Kato, social worker for the transplant team.
Christopher & Banks corporate headquarters informed Bevilacqua that her leave was
denied because she hadn't worked long enough to qualify for Family Leave Act
benefits. Bevilacqua had worked there just under 10 months, and the law requires at
least one year.
But when Bevilacqua asked why she had been granted the leave the first time the
transplant was scheduled, she said she was told: "That was July. This is the
Christmas season."
Prange didn't dispute that. Last summer, he said, "business staffing needs were less
critical."
Bevilacqua pleaded for an exception, telling them her mother's life was literally on
the line. The company said it couldn't make an exception.
Local employees were shattered.
"I loved my job. We were like a family there," she said. "Everyone was crying and
hugging me."
Bevilacqua may have lost her job, but her mother got her transplant on Oct. 15.
"It's made a new person out of me," Kibler said. "I feel more alive than I have in
years. It's really unbelievable."
Before the surgery, she spent much of her day lying down. If she wanted to make a
peach cobbler, her husband would assemble all the ingredients for her, but just
cutting the butter into little pieces was enough to send her back to bed.
Now she's looking forward to making her traditional dozen batches of peanut brittle
at Christmas.
Bevilacqua's own recovery from the donor surgery is also going well. Full recovery
takes between two and three months. Mother and daughter are staying in an apartment
close to Swedish for follow-up care. They will be officially discharged Dec. 1.
In the meantime, she can't collect unemployment because she is still recuperating and
can't actively look for a job.
Bevilacqua, who has four children by a previous marriage, and her husband, who works
two jobs, live modestly in an apartment in Silverdale.
Losing one income has been hard, she said. "We go paycheck to paycheck."
She plans to start looking for work again in retail as soon as the doctors clear her.
Prange said the company would welcome Bevilacqua back.
There's little chance of that.
"I do not want to work for a company with such a low opinion of human life," she
said.
© 1998-2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Nov 23rd 2001, 11:09 pm
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
ERIKG3 wrote:
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Yet another unbiased story...
The company said it would welcome her back.. They fired her due to the potential that
someone denied Medical & Family leave for OTHER uncovered reasons might fill
discriminated against...
It is unfortunate that the company was forced to decide to strictly follow the
guidelines of the Family and Medical Levae Act in order to avoid discrimination
claims. Say, for example, if this person was white and was granted leave even though
she did not meet the guideline. Then a black person, who also doesn't meet the time
in job requirements, tries to get medical leave and is denied.... The problem isn't
with the company, it is with a legal system that forces company's to make such
choices to avoid big lawsuits.
Michael
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Yet another unbiased story...
The company said it would welcome her back.. They fired her due to the potential that
someone denied Medical & Family leave for OTHER uncovered reasons might fill
discriminated against...
It is unfortunate that the company was forced to decide to strictly follow the
guidelines of the Family and Medical Levae Act in order to avoid discrimination
claims. Say, for example, if this person was white and was granted leave even though
she did not meet the guideline. Then a black person, who also doesn't meet the time
in job requirements, tries to get medical leave and is denied.... The problem isn't
with the company, it is with a legal system that forces company's to make such
choices to avoid big lawsuits.
Michael
Nov 24th 2001, 3:09 pm
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Dang, Michael. You took the words right out of my mouth. As well, I am SURE the
company asked her to leave voluntarily, before = finally having to resort to "firing"
her. Leave voluntarily and come = back to your job when you wish? Sounds like an
excellent company to me. = I certainly would have taken them up on their first offer,
not forcing = them to "fire" me!
>
Steen's Visa Pages http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
Newsgroup FAQ http://www.k1faq.com Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov {I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For
reliable legal advice, please consult with a professional immigration attorney.}
>
[usenetquote2]> >=20[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > Hey everyone! Hope you had a brilliant Thanksgiving. Shopping =[/usenetquote2]
season is apon
[usenetquote2]> > us. For those of you who are considering buying women's clothing =[/usenetquote2]
either for
[usenetquote2]> > yourself or a loved one, please read the following article from a =[/usenetquote2]
Seattle
[usenetquote2]> > newspaper about the heartless jerks who run the Christopher & Banks =[/usenetquote2]
chain and
[usenetquote2]> > consider spending your Christmas money elsewhere.[/usenetquote2]
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Family
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white
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a
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tries
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company asked her to leave voluntarily, before = finally having to resort to "firing"
her. Leave voluntarily and come = back to your job when you wish? Sounds like an
excellent company to me. = I certainly would have taken them up on their first offer,
not forcing = them to "fire" me!
>
Steen's Visa Pages http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
Newsgroup FAQ http://www.k1faq.com Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov {I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For
reliable legal advice, please consult with a professional immigration attorney.}
>
[usenetquote2]> >=20[/usenetquote2]
[usenetquote2]> > Hey everyone! Hope you had a brilliant Thanksgiving. Shopping =[/usenetquote2]
season is apon
[usenetquote2]> > us. For those of you who are considering buying women's clothing =[/usenetquote2]
either for
[usenetquote2]> > yourself or a loved one, please read the following article from a =[/usenetquote2]
Seattle
[usenetquote2]> > newspaper about the heartless jerks who run the Christopher & Banks =[/usenetquote2]
chain and
[usenetquote2]> > consider spending your Christmas money elsewhere.[/usenetquote2]
>
>
>
>
>
Family
>
>
>
>
>
white
>
a
>
tries
>
>
>
>
>
