Under the common law doctrine of employment-at-will, in the absence of an employment contract stating otherwise, an employee may be dismissed at any time, with cause, for no cause and even in many cases for a cause that seems unfair. here are certain exceptions to the rule. For instance, there are statutory exceptions for discriminatory discharges based on protected characteristics or retaliation for whistle-blowing, The NLRA prevents discharges from employment for union activities. Most states also recognize some level of common law exceptions. the most common being a public policy exception. That is, when the employment discharge interferes with or discourages some activity that is otherwise beneficial for society, the discharge may be deemed wrongful.
With this background comes the incident described in this news report from KSL.com.
A video posted to YouTube showed (ex WalMart employee Gabriel) Stewart, then an assistant
manager, and several "asset protection" employees inside a small room
with a man suspected of shoplifting. The suspect, at one point, pulled out a
handgun, prompting at least two workers to restrain him, and take away the
weapon.
The workers were fired by WalMart following the incident and have filed suit claimimg wrongful termination.
"Our number one concern is always the safety of our
customers and associates," said Randy Hargrove, Walmart corporate
spokesman. "Our policy is for associates to disengage, if a suspect has a
weapon. . . ."We don't want to escalate a dangerous situation
further," said Hargrove.
So WalMart would have their employees "disengage" with an armed and angry suspect and face likely death rather than defend themselves by taking the instinctive action to overpower the gunman. Watch the video below and decide for yourself. Should you be fired for trying to stay alive?
Is it too cynical to speculate whether WalMart carried "Dead Peasant" policies on these associates?
Video news report:
Raw surveillance video:
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