I have been sexually assaulted twice in my life: once as a child and again as a teenager. So when I was told the virtual sales team I belonged to was being dissolved and I was being transferred to an in-home position, I let leadership know I wasn't comfortable doing this as it would require me to conduct one-on-one appointments privately in clients homes. I asked to be moved to any other team (inside sales, trusts and estates, vendor, sales ops, marketing, talent and development) but was told they would not move me and this role was my only option. Unfortunately, this isn't a company where "no means no." Human Resources reached out to let me know they were opening a multiple-weeks-long accommodation case and I would be required to do the in-home role until they reached a conclusion on what to do. I was also told I needed to provide medical evidence proving my assaults. Luckily, I've been under the ongoing care of a medical professional who already knew about the assaults and was happy to write a letter stating he advised this role would be harmful to my mental and physical health. Despite having this letter, which HR should have never required me to provide, I was given 45 days to find another role before they terminated my employment. Keep in mind I was already told there was no other role available in the company. Additionally, I was told I would be required to pass all in-home appointments to teammates while I maintained the same quota. Since in-home appointments are a large portion of this role, this severely impacted my performance and resulted in a loss of wages. I threatened legal intervention via the EEOC of the United States on the basis of sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and loss of wages and was only then told I wouldn't be terminated after 45 days and they would look into moving me to another role. HR and senior leadership then rushed me to another team. The handling of this entire 5-week case has been dehumanizing and humiliating as I've been required to explain my assaults and have had my employment threatened because of it. I never asked to be part of this in-home team and was given no other option until I threatened a lawsuit. This experience has also made me relive the assaults, which I've worked so hard to put in the past. I blame senior leadership, which is in over their heads. Their inexperience and inhumanity shows with how they treat employees as disposable with no regard for their well-being. Today I'm thankful to say I quit after accepting a job offer elsewhere. I hope other survivors who work at The RealReal do as well.
