Veterans have given so much only to come home to face disrespect at the hands of employers. Show support for all veterans and thank them for what they have done by helping show solidarity for my wife Julie, an Iraq war veteran, who was literally slapped in the face by her former store manager then disrespected on veteran's day.

Sterling Jewelers CEO Mark Light  and other executives at corporate have refused to admit any wrong doing, and have continually refused to personally apologize and make things right. Nothing was done to the manager that slapped my wife and corporate said that it was "inappropriate touching", not assault, even though there were numerous witnesses to corroborate the incidents. The share holders must be made aware of how poorly these executives run the company and how badly employees are treated. This company puts profits over it's people. This is the same company sued by the EEOC in 2009 for pay discrimination. Evidence suggested that female employees were paid less than their male counterparts

Since Julie has reported this to corporate and has refused to back down they have refused her a promotion, refused to give her a small raise on her anniversary, forced her to do the job of the second assistant manager  for several months while they left the position unfilled (a position she posted for and was qualified for), she was not compensated for the excessive hours and extra work she had to do, and they threatened her on veteran's day with unemployment if she does not sell more jewelry by Dec 31st. That only scratches the surface of the disrespect they have continually shown her.

Boycott all jewelry stores owned by Sterling (Kays, Beldens, Jareds, etc). Send them a strong message that we will not allow our veterans to be disrespected any day, let alone the day they are meant to be honored and thanked. Once the deadline is reached this petition will be forwarded to the board of share holders at Signet Jewelers, which owns Sterling Jewelers, and media outlets.

*Sterling Jewelers is NOT an anti-veteran company and we do not allege that they are. These actions were NOT committed out of retaliation because Julie is a veteran, rather out of retaliation for standing up for herself and not giving in to them by pretending nothing happened and accepting their harassment. What we demand is that they admit fault and publicly apologize for the disrespect with which they have treated her on Veteran's day and all days previously.

Mark Light is so arrogant that rather than respond to several requests I have made that asked him to personally apologize to my wife, or at least pretend he has any compassion for his employees, he decided to notify his attorney, Steve Zashin, who then threatened me with arrest for harassment if I kept contacting the CEO of a publicly held company about company issues. Being a Police Officer I knew they had no grounds and called them out on their idle threat and they since have not been able to muster any courage and do the right thing.  Imagine the arrogance it takes to threaten a man who is defending the honor of his family.

As of January 07th 2012  (one week after the cut off date they gave her) Julie is still employed with Sterling. She has contacted not only her manager, but corporate HR and Mark Light himself inquiring as to if she is going to be fired or if she will continue to have a job. She was told they are still looking into it and one week later have not given her any answer what-so-ever. She advised them she would like to know so that she can begin job-hunting and so that she can arrange child-care. Not one person from corporate has taken the initiative to give her any answer one way or another. Several employees still have vacation time they need to take, one will be out on maternity leave very soon, and they have inventory coming up. Is it a coincidence that they are now back peddling, and delaying the inevitable, since they realized they will be severely under-staffed for a few weeks?

UPDATE 01/12/12. After sending Sterling CEO Mark Light an email demanding that they stop hanging Julie out to dry and at least tell her what their plans are they finally gave her a definitive answer, "you're fired". We can now thank Sterling Jewelers for plunging our family into the circumstance of the many others that they have put into unemployment and financial ruin. We are now basically a one person income household for no reason other than complete arrogance on the part of Mark Light, Sterling Jewelers, and Signet Jewelers.

These people owe the hundreds of former employees they have sent out onto the streets for no other reason than not meeting over inflated selling goals a major apology. It is time to step down and reflect on what you have become and how you treat others.