Posted on 05/08/2008 2:22:37 PM PDT by hatfieldmccoy
Mark Beverly probably didn’t expect a hero’s welcome when he returned to his convenience-store job after fighting off an assault on a co-worker from a would-be robber, but he certainly didn’t expect to get fired, either. Super America, which operates a large chain of gas stations and convenience stores in the Midwest, terminated Beverly for violating the policy of the company by fighting with the robber. The termination leaves Beverly without unemployment benefits as well
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Wouldn't a link to the Trial Lawyers Association be more appropriate?
If they didn't fire him for violating company policy, the next employee who did that and got hurt feelings or worse would be able to sue for millions.
Unintended consequences...
I had the opportunity to read the story concerning the heroics of Mr Beverly to save a fellow employee from harm and the pathetic response to his action by (not so)Super America. Mark Beverly has a great deal to proud of, Super America has a great deal to be ashamed of. It is this kind of intractable, moronic, knee jerk Dilbert corporate response that should, at the least, be embarrassing for the organization. I can only hope the public in your market area chooses to do business with other companies that are blessed with at least a modicum of common sense.
A similar incident happened at a Whole Foods Market near me in Ann Arbor. I don’t know if the worker ever got his job back.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
when lawyers, insurance companies, and frat boys rule the world...
I was nearly killed last summer by a clerk chasing a shoplifter. I was walking past the store, first the thief plowed into me, but I managed to stay on my feet, then the clerk plowed into me and threw me into the street. The intersection I was thrown into was usually extremely busy...this day, it was uncharacteristically empty (thank God).
I understand why stores tell their employees to NOT chase shoplifters.
Typical liberal “I’m afraid of lawsuits so submit to violence” attitude. I wish I still had a company I would hire this guy right now. If he is young enough he should consider the military, they don’t fire your butt because you defend someone.
I guess you didn't read the article. He didn't chase anyone, he saved a female employee from being beaten to death of being sent to the hospital. Guess you are all for letting that happen, huh?
Spoken like a true denizen of the the 21st Century. Always consider the legal ramifications of any action before responding to an emergency.
Just keep walking past anyone laying on the ground during cardiac arrest.
In this dammed crazy world of John Edwards we live in, trying to help anyone with a health issue, such as cardiac arrest, very well COULD open you up for civil liability. Lets say you attempt CPR and the person dies. Their family could come after you in court.
Indeed.......sad.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Sorry, I can’t agree, and I’ve had the same happen to me, but it was a cop chasing a creep. So should cops never chase anyone? In my case, it was a crowded shopping mall, so firing their sidearm is absolutely out of the question.
I actually appreciate your tagline.
LOL......Simple and easy to live by. Long ago enforced upon me by senior NCO’s with experience and skills.
Stay safe Sir !
Sounds sort of like my job. If you see someone stealing product offically your supposed to be “Pleasent but Present” and if they walk out with a product, you can’t pursue them past your door. And god forbid if a customer takes a swing at you and you hit back.
So someone breaks my glass counter top and swipes a few grand in ipods I’m supposed to ask them “Would you like buy a fm transmitter or a 30 dollar case along with a new counter?”
I don't care.
There is one condition that puts the company between a rock and a hard place. If they were to encourage workers to defend themselves they would be open to lawsuits if they were injured or killed.
If that is the case I would like them to have the balls to say so, otherwise firing them is bad bad PR.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“Lets say you attempt CPR and the person dies. Their family could come after you in court.”
Most states have something called a “Good Samaritan Law” which prevents such lawsuits. (I won’t live anyplace that doesn’t.) Next excuse?
where the hell did I say that??????????????
Most states have "Good Samaritan" laws that prevent that.
The good Samaritan laws in most states would cover that, if the person did it without intent to cause harm. The catch then becomes “intent.”
When I worked as a lifeguard, some pools lived in the fear of doing the right thing and getting sued anyway.
I didn’t realize there were 2 other comments about the law... Not trying to shove it in your face. :)
You are not to chase a shoplifter because you might bump into someone? Funny.
What the heck? You take one poster's relating his personal experience and assume he's for letting all criminals run free? Talk about an irrational jump to conclusions.
I fixed soome typos. The HTML format of the included email made this ne big paragraph, sorry!
Tom
I sent this email to Marathon Oil Company. They are the Parent company of Super America ________________________________________________ Is Bozo the clown running your Super America Company? I sent this letter to your sibling Super America web site. I’m sure that you have heard by now about the employee who was fired for trying to stop an assault and not a robbery. Since I sent this letter, I will be mentioning a far bigger target to my sleazy friend (?). I know that he will look to name you as a defendant in his suggested actions. It will be fun to watch the fall out of the action by some spineless individuals. Your ex-employee has more balls than your whole organization has shown. You people work for a stupid spineless liberal organization. You make perfect idiots of yourselves and then find out that you are almost isolated in assessing the value of your employee. What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you see the tremendous loss in Public Image for this action? The employee was not fighting a robbery. He was defending a co-worker. I would do the same thing whether it was an employee or a person on the street. It is not called bravery; it is called helping my fellow wo/man. You have some real morons in your company. If you want to make good and to recover from your stupid public image, you would quietly reassign the moron who is responsible for this bonehead move and re-hire your brave employee. Give him an award for doing the responsible thing. Please let me know your response to my email. Admittedly, I do not live in your area of coverage, but I do have friends and family who will hear about this and I will ask them to do the responsible thing and punish such a stupid company. I will be trying to find a way to contact the fired employee and putting him in contact with a particularity sleazy Lawyer I know that will delight in this case. He probably already has made the contact. I dislike Lawyers as a whole, but this guy is so bad that I think he would be a perfect man for the job. I would really will enjoy seeing him take you down so far that when you lick your lips, your feet will get wet. Tom Walsh [H] (732) 787-7644 [C] (732) 687-9144 twalsh73@comcast.net
Yep, I sure do because he made it plain he thought no one should do anything to stop crime if they are employees of said company where crime is occurring.
Jumping to conclusions? I don't think so, the guy was bitching about being knocked down in a parking lot by someone chasing criminals and said nothing about the article per se. The only conclusion one could reach is he thinks you should just let the criminals go and to hell with it.
I simply told he a**hat that a girls life was on the line and the guy in the article was a hero, at least that was the gist of it. Now, if you think his statement was relevant to the article and that he was advocating employees of companies give a hand and stop crime when they see it, please send me the part of his comment that I missed. On the other hand if you reread his comment and you see that there was no mention of the guy(in the article) being a hero or of employees having the right to defend fellow employees, maybe you should rethink your idiotic comment to me.
Change the word legal to moral or ethical or Christian and you have the right judgment value.
I wouldn't and couldn't. I am not wired that way. I would say a prayer and hope for the best. There is no wrong answer to the question. a snap moral, ethical and Christian decision has and your conscience needs to live with the outcome.
I intend no judgment in this post.
Again, I agree with what you said, but I'm just trying to make the connection between the two different topics.
???
No! You're supposed to offer them the 3 year extended warranty on those Ipods! Back to training for you!
/sarcasm
"I'm sure if his co-worker had been severely injured or God forbid - murdered - the company's lawyers would have been happy."
If I had to make my point so obvious that everyone could 'get it', it wouldn't have been any fun.
Don't take it too serious guys. It wasn't what you thought.
LOL! I actually thought about including John Edward with the Trial Lawyers Association email recommendation I made earlier.
Unfortunately, ethical or Christian values have NO regard in our current legal 'industry'. It's all money and victimization. Someone has to be blamed for EVERYTHING that happens and be made to pay the PRICE.
Again, I intended no moral judgment of any individual's action I wish you peace; Tom
Thanks for the clarification. No offense taken. My brain just didn’t make the connection (I suspect I’m low on caffeine today).
Can you believe I have been reading this forum over the years and this is the first post I get to make? lol
Anyway, pertaining to this Beverly fellow.
Good Samaritan laws in Minnesota require a person at the scene of an emergency to provide reasonable assistance to any person in need. If you do not, you can be charged with a misdemeanor
Now, dialing 911 is also regarded as assistance, but rightly so if this guy choose to assist in preventing any further damage being done to the young lady in the manner he did, wouldn’t he be protected by the law in this instance?
Since the method of assistance is not defined beyond “dialing emergency numbers” but could very well include any act in regards to assistance beyond that, wouldn’t the company forbidding assistance ( as noted by his dismissal from his job ) be encouraging a violation of law?
Probably not, but just a thought I had when I read this. I hope I’m right though and this guy can get his job back based on that or at least something. Cowardice should not be rewarded while courage and decency is punished.
“If a person were dying and the appropriate action was CPR and there was no Mouth to mouth guard, Would you wait?”
Actually I don’t think you have to worry anymore. Seems like I remember reading recently that mouth-to-mouth was no longer recommended during CPR.
Just chest compressions.
If I were Mr Beverly, I would NOT want my job back...
I once worked a lil quickie mart...the 3rd shift guy that trained me came in, placed his pistol next to the register in full view [located outta reach from the counter] of customers...I was asked if I 'had a gun'...
a 'good' job is one where you know yer back is covered...
you must check for both and give both when needed as I understood it...my .02...
The problem is that everyone is afraid of lawyers... they should be afraid of me.
How did they deny his unemployment benefits.
If you’re fired, even for cause, you’re still entitled to that which you paid in.
Just chest compressions. There’s enough oxygen in the blood to keep the brain alive 3+ minutes, but you have to keep the blood flowing. Here’s a good quote:
“Presently, only 1 in 4 patients in cardiac arrest receives bystander CPR. Studies have found that bystanders are more willing to start resuscitation efforts if mouth-to-mouth ventilations are not required. In addition, continuous-chest-compression CPR is less complex and therefore easier to learn and remember. It is important to realize that, even when chest compressions are performed continuously and properly on a person in cardiac arrest, the blood flow they generate is so weak that any interruption in chest compressions, even for breathing, lowers the chances of survival.”
It’s from this link:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/116/25/e566
If it were a shoplifter and the most likely outcome if he chose not to intervene was the guy's exit with the stuff, then you might be right. But it wasn't; he stepped in to save a co-worker from getting the crap beat out of them.
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