NOT JET BLUE!: The luster comes off Dwelling Quest September 23
There is a reason why companies routinely negotiate palatable terms of separation with their key and valued employees rather than discarding them in the middle of the night, without any form of notice, a severance package or separation agreement. In the estimation of the Consigliere, it was foolish and ill advised for Dwelling Quest (”DQ” not to be confused with Dairy Queen) to seduce Kelly Kreth to leave the security of her new position working for motfu Michael Shvo at Shvo Marketing, and to accept their counter-offer to return to DQ, only to set her up to fail and dismiss her shortly after her arrival without any reasonable offer of an amicable separation agreement or severance package.
Unethical? Perhaps. Bad business? Absolutely, especially since Kelly helped build the Dwelling Quest brand. Rewarding an insubordinate employee for an invasion of Kelly Kreth’s privacy which resulted in the making public of Kelly’s semi-private online diary, subjecting her to humililation, embarrassment and expulsion from her job is nonsensical.
Rumor has it, however, to add insult to injury that Kelly Kreth is now after being fired, not only facing the threat of a law suit, Dwelling Quest CEO Daren Hornig has allegedly made it clear that he intends to see to it that Kelly never work in this town again. Overkill? Maybe he will take away her milk money too? For what? Speaking to the Press or at least the Real Estate Press, including Curbed(see: “DwellingQuest Cans PR Head for Blogging?”) and coming soon, Crains. From what I know, the only thing that Kelly owns is her dog. Talk about kicking a dog when they are down. This is akin to knocking off the milk monitor and taking her milk money. Mr. Hornig, I know Jet Blue, I have ridden Jet Blue and Dwelling Quest is no Jet Blue!
Daren Hornig, in a personal networking meeting with the Consigliere less than a year ago referred to the wannabe monolithic real estate concern as the “Jet Blue” of Real Estate. During said meeting Mr. Hornig ironically joked of his curiosity of Ms. Kreth’s semi-private online diary, which only became public recently. Mr. Hornig, need I advise you that I would suspect that Jet Blue’s egalitarian management style which fostered excellent customer service and inspired widespread loyalty of the consumer was not developed merely by attaching the color blue to their brand, but rather offering their employees the same level of courtesy and respect that they expect their employees to offer the consumer marketplace.
What does it say about the character and values of your organization that you reward the Watergate like behavior of a certain employee whose conduct potentially amounts to a gross level of insubordination, an invasion of privacy of another executive level employee, causing said executive level person humiliation, the loss of her job and potentially being blackballed in the industry? What does it further say that ironically the watergate like intruder ascended to the mantle of Director of Public Relations while you simulataneously take steps to crush the individual who helped build your brand? What are your values Sir? I await with baited breath for the press release announcing your shiney PR wunderkind. But I am more interested to know whether it will contain the nitty gritty details about how she out maneuvered Kelly Kreth for her job at Dwelling Quest?
What does it say that once your organization unfairly undermined the professional security of your former Director of Public Relations, that you would choose to pay the not so inexpensive legal fees of Mintz Levin Ferris Glovsky & Popeo than write a simple severance check to allow said director a graceful exit if she no longer fit into your long term plans? Is that asking too much or would you rather just beat her head against the Curb as a final measure?
The Real Estate business is competitive. Companies certainly have growing pains. No doubt yours does, but not as a result of anything done by Kelly Kreth. This is a problem of your own making. Now would be the time, however, to right a wrong. I highly recommend that you back off your kelly vs. GOLIATH posture and cease and desist in your efforts to crush a small individual who was critical to extending your brand. To do otherwise will likely result in a rising up of those devoted to the cause of Saving Kelly which will only lead to DQ being perceived in the market place as the antithesis of Jet Blue. Because at the end of the day it really is about character. How can we expect that customers will be treated any better than your own former executives?