My fiance was furloughed in April. He survived the first round of layoffs since he was an A Tech, and the company has a policy that they will not furlough A Techs. However, they temporarily demoted him down to a B Tech for two months for "negligence," and then two days later was part of the second round of furloughs through June 2nd. I won't get in to the details of the "negligence" to protect his identity, but even though he had paperwork to back up his work, he was told to accept the demotion and admit negligence or be fired.
He's been calling for a week trying to find out if he was supposed to come back today. He finally got the call today that they made the decision to lay him off, since the company decided not to cover medical benefits anymore. He was asked to pick up his toolbox before the end of the day. However, two of his coworkers that were also furloughed in the first round were told they were being temporarily laid off, and that they didn't need to get their toolboxes.
I'm very disappointed in this company. While they did everything by the book and we don't have any recourse against AutoNation through the Labor Board, how they handled my fiance's situation was not ethical. Before the furloughs, AutoNation had promised to pay the employees their average from January and February. They reneged on that promise and instead implemented furloughs instead. I understand that we are in unprecedented times of change, and businesses are doing what needs to be done to stay afloat, but companies that don't take care of their employees will garner a bad reputation, especially in an industry where skilled auto workers are becoming few and far between.
Luckily, my fiance already has an interview setup for tomorrow at a different shop, which is independent and family-owned.