Home Depot fires four merchandising associates

Reuters ^ | Wed Aug 1, 2007 9:23AM EDT | staff

[xcamel]

CHICAGO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc. (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had fired four merchandising associates who violated the company's ethical standards and said the matter is under investigation by federal authorities.

CBS News reported that four purchasing managers are alleged to have taken kickbacks totaling millions of dollars to make sure that certain flooring products got onto Home Depot's shelves.

The company said in a statement, "The Home Depot has terminated four merchandising associates for infractions of our ethical standards. We're cooperating with authorities and because this matter is under investigation, we can't comment further on the specifics."

It said the matter "does not have a material effect on our consolidated financial conditions or results of operations."

A representative for Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, declined to elaborate beyond the company's statement.

CBS said the Federal Bureau of Investigation "is said to be investigating."

The FBI's Atlanta Field Office said it had no comment on any possible investigation. A representative for the federal prosecutor's office in Atlanta could not be immediately reached for comment.

Home Depot plans to hold its annual merchandising staff meeting on Thursday.

Shares of Atlanta-based Home Depot slipped 2 cents to $37.15 in early electronic trading. (Reporting by Jessica Wohl)

[xcamel]

This has been going on for a very long time - and on a much larger scale than "4 associates"

[muawiyah]

Let's see what this means ~ took me 10 months to take delivery of a specific type of parquet flooring listed in the HD catalog ~ could have bought an inferior variety off the floor at any time.

It's a tad beyond "4 associates" ~ oh, yeah, the kind I wanted was made in Tennessee. The kind they wanted to stick me with was made in China.