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ITT Tech employee: 'I feel like I wasn't valued'

Employees supervised as they collect their things
Posted at 7:29 PM, Sep 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-08 19:51:35-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- ITT Tech employees returned to their offices Wednesday to pack up their things as the school prepares to close its doors for good.

Hannah Washington and Sarah McCrary say they'd hoped to make a career at the school. They say they were blindsided this week by news of the closure.

Washington worked in technical support; McCrary in recruitment. Both were told last Friday their Labor Day holiday had been extended an extra day. On Saturday, they received an unexpected paycheck. Then, early Tuesday morning, a termination notice by email with an announcement that ITT Tech was shutting down.

"I feel like I wasn't valued," Washington said. "I was there for six years. It's just like, give me more than that. At least a severance, at least a 30-day notice, at least a heads up. Nothing."

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And the process of collecting her things after six years was even more demeaning, she said.

"We had to be escorted in, couldn’t go the same way, we had to check in, sign our name, someone had to walk us to our desk, then we had to kind of be walked out," Washington said. "We were supervised as we walked out. I felt like I didn't exist in the company. Nobody knew who I was."

Washington and McCrary say they had no time to prepare for the news.

"We just had assurance from our manager that everything was OK, we were going to get out of this," McCrary said. "I just thought if it ever came to this day, there would be a little more compassion."