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OT: Wal-Mart fires employee for chasing after thief


chunky-b

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This one is for you, FUnkee!!

 

http://www.ocala.com/article/20091021/ARTICLES/910211015/1402/NEWS

 

 

Josh Rutner said he was just doing his job as a Wal-Mart "asset protection officer" earlier this month when he chased a knife-wielding theft suspect across the store parking lot.


The man, later identified as Marc Ash, was arrested by Ocala police and the merchandise was recovered.


The next day, Wal-Mart fired Rutner.

 

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While I may not necessarily agree with this firing, it was very clearly against store policy, and he was aware of that fact. There is a good reason you aren't supposed to chase. He may have saved $40 worth of golf balls, but that loss is much more acceptable than the thousands in medical bills that the store would have been facing if he had been hurt in the pursuit. Plus, if he was seriously hurt, the company is facing long-term disability and the costs of hiring and training a replacement. Quite frankly, if a policy is in place and you don't follow it, you don't have much to complain about when you end up fired.

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Yeah, on the surface it sounds dumb, but Wal-Mart have the policy in place in order to a) protect their employees and b) protect themselves from legal action and it has to be consistent. Firing the guy is a bit tough, suspending him for a week or something would probably be a more fitting action.

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About 6 years ago, about a week after I started a job, I was leaving work and I saw a kid run out with 3 snowboards. I told the manager, and he said "ohh, well he's gone now."

 

I went out side, saw the kid running away, so I chased him down. When I caught up with him, I just jogged next to him as he huffed and puffed, and told him I could run all day, so he should just stop and take the snowboards back. So the kid brought them back on his own, and I went home.

 

A few people tried to get me fired over it, but it didn't stick. It was $900 worth of merchandise, and I didn't even get a thanks.

 

The kid did poop his pants though.

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