Fired from Hertz: My experience working for the Hertz Corporation

I wanted to share my experience of injustice working for the Hertz Corporation in the Palm Springs International Airport because it's ridiculous. It was not a professional environment, it was more of a social environment where the employees were like family instead of co-workers. Why was this a problem? New hires who did not "fit in" were excluded, singled out, and discarded. They either quit on their own or got fired, like myself. The level of immaturity was disturbing.

Once management and employees discovered I was speaking with HR, they started exaggerating stories about me and kept me from speaking with HR on the clock. Management and co-workers teamed up to get me fired for telling on them. The employees were affecting my ability to sell and do my job. HR ignored the facts I was giving them and then fired me for what they were doing, which was unprofessional conduct. I was employed for seven months and it was nothing but hypocrisy and character defamation.

Discrimination and Racist Hate

The employees were discriminatory and racist towards customers, particularly Canadians and other foreign travelers. They all complained about Canadians daily. One employee, who could say whatever he pleased, called the customers “Jewy” one day and called a woman a “white bitch," to me, a white woman, another day. He was promoted before I was fired.

It was not only their words of discrimination that were unprofessional, but their sabotaging tendencies toward those customers based on their race or country of origin. They would intentionally rip these customers off by not giving them what they paid for, lying about vehicles available just to make a sale, and harassing and pestering certain ones about things like passports when they did not do this to other customers. 

I had employees and management say things to me that were completely inappropriate and prejudiced considering my background and the area that we live in, just because of the color of my skin. Such as, shock in the food I was eating and stories about my family. Everything they said to me was pretty isolating and outcasting as if I were somehow different from them. It's racism to assume that people have a solely "white" background and didn't grow up around the same type of people that you did when we live in the same neighborhood.

They discriminated against my personality, which was more reserved than theirs. Some even implied that I was dumb like I had no experience or social skills while training. They all talked to me like I was younger or dumber than them. A manager spoke to HR about my personality and how I didn't fit in because I didn’t act like them or share details about my personal life. Since when does it matter if an employee fits in or not if they get along with everyone? It was an independent job, we didn't even have to talk to each other. They even went so far as to say that I didn’t have a personality at all and laughed at me.

Inappropriate Work Conversations

The counter representative's conversations were violent and disgusting. They were talking loudly about bar fights and even going into detail about making people’s faces explode and other graphic imagery. One employee kept showing me things on his phone and telling me violent war stories while I had no choice but to sit and listen. One employee gave a detailed description of a bull being slaughtered. Violence makes some people sick and angry, including myself. It's not appropriate for the airport or the workplace.

I was so disturbed by their conversations that I began to feel threatened. That’s what happens when you speak about how violent you are at work, it starts to paint a picture of you that people don't want to see. I knew way too much about their personal lives including their sexual preferences down to gender and race. It's sexual harassment, I don't care who or what you sleep with. I don't need a visual or a connection with you on this topic. They wouldn't invite me to the bar but I still had to listen to all their drunk personal conversations, it seemed.

I advocate for free speech but freedom of speech is not allowed in the workplace for obvious reasons. If it were, I would not have been fired. It creates discomfort and negative emotions. It’s like being raped by people’s words while you’re trying to perform job duties. Anything you say can create a visual and it's distracting not to mention illegal in this state. If I said anything remotely similar to these people, especially about race, I would have been fired immediately, it’s hypocritical. 

Unprofessional and Hostile Environment

I am non-confrontational and non-judgemental but I do have boundaries. I expect policies and laws to be followed in the workplace because I follow them. I had never complained to HR before this and had never been fired. I was nice to everybody throughout my employment there. Their personalities weren’t the problem, it was their words and actions. I tried to explain this to upper management but they just kept blaming me and my personality. They pretty much said that I was difficult to get along with, which is completely ridiculous, they were the ones that were exclusive and mean. They were very closed-minded when it came to me. 

The hostility began just two months after I started when one employee turned everyone against me based on one "argument" that we had. She argued with me in front of the customer and then told the manager a false version of what happened. She put words in my mouth and the manager took these false words up to upper management, painting a false picture of me. The employee took everything personally and limited communication with me after the incident for months. She also turned all the other employees against me and several people stopped talking to me and greeting me. I was excluded from staff meetings and even the Christmas potluck. I was on the schedule that day and my name was the only one not on the list. I gave photos of the list to HR, but they still took their side. 

During this time, my schedule started changing, not in my favor, and without communication from management. All of the other employees had schedule preferences and were respected. One employee didn’t have to follow the schedule and came and went as he pleased. They gave my morning and mid-day shifts to another new employee and put me on all closing shifts. It also was not a fair sales job, morning shift employees made more money on commission because there were more cars available and more customers. Their reason for the change was because I was “new” but, the employee they switched my schedule with was newer than me. He was more liked by the other employees. He wasn't a better salesperson either, he was using another employee as a crutch.

Some tried to make the environment as uncomfortable as possible. One of them brought food in every day for everybody except for me. He yelled over my head while I stood near him, offering them food and ignoring me, even people from other companies. He also refused to speak to me directly which was awkward and unprofessional, and so did everyone else, even the counter lead. The manager took their side and said that I was unapproachable which was not true. I was never anything but nice to all of them.

Bullying and Humiliation

I started writing notes to HR when a manager told me to eat because I was too skinny to fit into the uniforms that few people wore. He held up a shirt to my body in front of everybody. He compared my body to the other women standing near me and even asked one her size. The other one was exempt from wearing a Hertz uniform as he bypassed her.

An employee from Dollar Thrifty told me to eat a burger because I was “a little on the slender side" and "looked like I could use one.” Another Dollar Thrifty employee yelled at me in front of customers and other counters when I was sent there to help them. He told the customer to leave a bad review about me when I was still learning. 

When I told HR about the manager who told me to eat because I was too skinny, she said that some people are offended and some people aren’t by these words and it's "all about perception." I had to explain to her that it’s not about offense or perception, it’s about professionalism. I don’t come to work for people to focus on my body or my weight. It’s sexual harassment. Get your eyes off of my body and do your job. If she fat-shamed me she would have been fired.

A Hertz employee called me an “ass.”. The counter lead repeatedly yelled at me in front of a line of customers and other counters and accused me of things that I wasn’t doing and that weren't true, like being late. She even yelled loudly one morning that It smelled like alcohol in the break room when I was making coffee. 

One employee who got special privileges had me get up and move when he came in because he had his own special computer. There were no other computers available when I came in to start my shift. The counter lead was on his side and made me move seats when he came in, but not next to her. She made her friend move to the seat next to her and put me in the other seat. This happened almost every day. He bragged about having friends in high places, even knowing friends of the CEO. He was friends with the general manager since he got to call all the shots all while bullying employees and ripping customers off at the counter. 

These incidents had witnesses, dates, and times and were on camera but nobody would take my side because they were all friends. HR took their side and said there was no evidence of anything I was saying, calling me crazy, and then firing me. Their reasoning was unprofessional conduct, exactly what I said they were doing. The only policy I broke was accidentally saying a curse word in passing to a manager. I had to listen to these people curse all day in anger and hatred about the job and customers and I was fired for an accident that I apologized for.

Poor Management

The employees at the counter made it clear when I first started that most people walked out and quit because they couldn’t handle it. This was proven when the other four men that I was hired with all quit, most within the first few weeks. This was due to a lack of training and unprofessionalism by employees, management, and HR. Managers just laughed about people quitting instead of listening and fixing the problems. There was never any management at the counter to help us when needed and they weren’t doing anything important. One manager was grocery shopping and spending hours on lunch breaks most days. Another one went home for hours at a time, all the while we were yelled at, cursed at, and threatened by customers because they were just as upset at the operational management as those who had to work behind the counter. Everybody knows the car rental business is a madhouse but this was extreme.

Their operational management was sketchy. They cared more about the numbers of that location than customer service. This was awkward for us who had to deal with the customers face to face. Management never gave us any answers for the customers to use in defense so it was day after day of ruthless anger and hate from them.

A manager that harassed me about little things and kept saying “Worry about yourself” when I pointed out how she was singling me out. I was worrying about myself when standing up for myself because she was off telling upper management lies, like I was somehow slacking while working harder than the people around me, including herself. I never left the counter except to use the restroom and talk to HR. Other employees didn’t have to ask permission or tell anyone they were leaving the counter even if we had customers. This manager repeatedly apologized and admitted she struggled to speak to people, so why was I fired for her incompetence? 

My paychecks were constantly missing sick, vacation, and regular time. Schedules were sent out with errors and I was suspended without pay for following a schedule error. They said I left unannounced even though the schedule was emailed to everyone. 

Lack of HR Support and Professionalism 

All of the employees were allowed to break policy except for me. One employee did things under my account during training which I was called to the back office for and reprimanded for while she kept doing it daily. It was a trick that bypassed having the customer call customer service at the counter due to a credit card issue. Later, the counter lead took my customer to use this trick while I was helping her. She took my customer and was going to break policy right on camera but I was punished in this incident. There were no more customers because she took mine so I walked outside to talk to the general manager and tell him what was happening. The counter lead and manager on duty both followed me outside and screamed at me in front of the people outside that I couldn’t talk to HR on the clock and that I needed to go back to the counter. I went inside and asked the manager when would be a good time to speak to HR, but she refused to answer, she just stood there, stared straight ahead, and said nothing. They then made a whole spectacle out of what I did, which was appropriate for the situation, and made everyone sign a paper saying not to do the things that everybody else did daily, such as leaving the counter without permission. 

The general manager also suspended me without pay because apparently, they were watching the camera tallying things I was doing, and asking the other employees to be witnesses. Most of the things I didn’t even do, like slamming doors, or were just plain hypocritical like accidentally saying a curse word. One day after this, a Dollar/Thrifty employee slammed the door in anger on purpose and nobody told on her or even cared. I was very calm through all of this so it was character defamation. They were saying that I am like them which is aggressive and violent when I was the one complaining about their inappropriate behavior. It didn't make any sense and it was extremely manipulative. 

HR asked for dates, times, and witnesses, that’s why I was writing notes as things were happening and even in my time off. They still said there was no evidence. I kept asking them to watch the cameras but they said they didn’t have time, but management had time to create a false profile against me. 

I also had concerns about my original job offer being rescinded and given a lower-paying position before I started. This caused great stress at the time. After I started, a manager immediately put me back into the original position where I learned that there were still interviews happening and people were still onboarding. They lied about not being able to afford the position and it was because of some other reason they refused to explain to me.

Breaks and lunches were interrupted by management and employees so I didn't want to be in the "break room." The employees were unaware of California labor laws and they told me to interrupt them to ask questions. All of the chairs in there were broken and people were always working in there so there was nowhere to sit.. 

Every HR representative I was assigned to either went on vacation or disappeared so I had to keep waiting. One talked to the manager I was complaining about before speaking to me so I asked to speak with someone else. I asked one for a copy of all the policies I signed and she said there was no record of my documents, not even my ID card. Amazing. 

Unethical Sales and Customer Dissatisfaction 

I was also disturbed by the treatment of their customers. They were severely manipulating people to make a sale. One customer even started crying because they had to pay more than they originally thought. It wasn't sales, it was employees scamming people for money. Everyone knows that lying in sales is considered unethical but the company endorsed it so they were not worried or ashamed. It was normal for them. It's not that hard to ethically sell a product or service that has value.

Almost every customer had "airport taxes and fees" that they still needed to pay even if it were stated on the invoice as paid in full. "Airport taxes and fees" is what management told us to tell them about the leftover charges. This made the customers extremely irate towards us. The older employees would argue with them, manipulate them, and even yell at them, in defense of the company. I had never seen such customer abuse in my life. It seemed that the problems the customers had to face daily were easily fixable by the company, they didn't care. 

Terminated in Retaliation

As I was begging for my schedule to be changed back to at least some mid-day and morning shifts because of my sleeping habits, they hired another person to work these times. This girl was treated like family, well trained, provided everything she needed, and was welcomed with loving arms. She got highlighters and pens, a locker, and got to pick her schedule. She pretty much replaced me before I was even fired. When I started, the counter lead refused to train me. That’s why I was trained, and incorrectly, by other sales reps. The new girl called out multiple times a week from hangovers and they all just laughed about it because she was their loved friend. It’s not like I wasn’t getting along with people there was no reason for my schedule to be changed this way, they didn’t want to work with me. I never got a locker or a place to put my work stuff so my pens and highlighters were constantly stolen.

I asked to speak to corporate and they gave me the head of HR. Her method of reviewing my claims was to ignore my previous notes and make me explain everything again off the top of my memory. She then “investigated” by asking everyone if they did what I said they did. Of course, they all denied the claims and defended each other. She said there was no evidence and then fired me for unprofessional conduct. How do you fire the person complaining about unprofessional conduct for unprofessional conduct and ignore all claims against those performing it? I needed the job and would do nothing intentionally to lose it. That’s why I was so upset, I deserved justice for being bullied, harassed, and outcasted by these employees who were used to getting away with everything. Towards the end, it was clear they were trying to get rid of me.

The employees at the counter made it clear that it was pretty much impossible to get fired as long as your sales were good and mine were fine. I didn’t have the same protection and privilege as they did. If it were so easy to quit and find another job I would have done that. I didn't do anything worthy of being fired over, especially compared to the other employees. I was and still am devastated that I had to exert so much force to stand up for myself all for nothing. They all get to live happily ever after and keep their jobs while I have been struggling to survive the last five months of my life. I have still yet to find employment and I'm trying not to lose my apartment. I am positive they are bad-mouthing me amongst themselves, other companies, and customers because this is what they did to all other ex-employees while I was there.