Walmart appears to struggle at times to find ways to lower itself in the estimation of the world from stripping people of benefits to firing sick employees to arbitrary treatment of employees to destroying history to alleged bribery to reporting families to police for innocent pictures. Not long ago, the store fired an elderly greeter who was attacked by customer. Now, a Michigan man, Kristopher Oswald, says that he was fired after trying to help a woman being assaulted in the parking lot during one of his breaks. What is interesting is that Walmart is not denying his account.
Oswald, 30, said that he was on his break at 2:30am when he saw a man assault a woman. When he tried to intervene, he says the man assaulted him. When he was able to overcome the man, he says two men jumped him from behind. He was heralded as a hero and then he was fired.
Walmart company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie insisted that “We had to make a tough decision, one that we don’t take lightly, and he’s no longer with the company.” What tough decision? He intervened to help a woman on his break. Most people would view that as an easy decision — reward him. Only in the world of Walmart does the company immediately think that “we need to fire that guy.”
Oswald had worked for Walmart for about seven weeks. He was trying to finish his 180-day probation period when he apparently made the mistake of helping a woman.
As always, I read these Walmart stories and think that are a hoax or are wrongly reported. Then I find that they are actually true. In this case, I have found various stories repeating the allegations and not one denial from the company that it fired Oswald for helping a woman in need. If true, I am not sure what is more shocking: Walmart attitude toward its workers or its customers. Either way, I am long past serious shock over Walmart policies.
According to the Detrot Free Press…. The guy was offered his job back….
An Alternative to Capitalism (since we cannot legislate morality)
Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: “There is no alternative”. She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.
I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to my essay titled: “Home of the Brave?” which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
Perhaps in time the so-called dark ages will be thought of as including our own.
–Georg C. Lichtenberg
Now that I know Walmart employees will leave me to my fate in their parking lots, I will refrain from shopping there.
“A girl gets dinged for picking up her drunk friend…”
Another kid gets expelled from the government indoctrination facility (publik skule) for playing airsoft in his own home yard.
When I was a kid most of the boys carried a “Boy Scout” camp knife. If you took it out of your pocket without teacher’s permission it went into the teacher’s desk drawer for the rest of the school year.
Another kid at a rougher high school carried a .38 with him to keep from being robbed of his lunch money on the way to school and from being beaten up by the duck tail hood[lum] crowd. He kept it in his locker during school.
I was only kidnapped and taken for a joy ride once by some of the punks.
“One of the reasons I no longer do business with Wal-Mart….”
Yeah, good. If you live in a small town that is just big enough to attract Wal-mart, all the other stores go out of business. All Walmart has to do is set prices on major draw items 1% below the local family owned stores and practically all their customers go over to Walmart. All the non-draw convenience stuff is higher priced than the local stores, but no one pays attention that their overall cost of shopping at Walmart is higher.
Many companies have a similar policy of discharging any employee involved in any way in violence, even if the employee is attacked on the premises. This is mostly because they want to limit their liability exposure.
If you want to boycott all companies that have and enforce such a policy, good luck.
If this is simply the “last straw” with Walmart, go to it.
I was a contractor barred from Walmart for having unsealed product without a sales receipt. It was not sealed when it came out of the shipping carton. I was instructed to empty such into the compactor and put the empty bag in the credits box. The Walmart asst. manager saw the bag before I took the latest bunch of open ones to the compactor.
No one ever warned me of this and as I was not an employee of Walmart but of a vendor, I was not given a Walmart employee manual, so the only way I had to find out the rules was to violate one and be called down for it. Oh – my supervisor was also barred for not warning me. He had been working the store for 21 years!
“If a Walmart customer suffers a heart attack, are Walmart employees forbidden from giving CPR on the grounds that it poses a liability risk?”
Wouldn’t be surprised. Only 18% of heart attack victims given CPR AED (defibrillator) survive. Their survivors will sue you. And your company. The 18% will sue you for cracking their sternum, bruising, etc., which is the natural consequence of CPR. “Good Samaritan” laws give protection but you still have to hire a lawyer, go to court. Fat chance your company will pay you for your defense expenses. The company may offer them a settlement, or fight it, citing their inflexible rule forbidding employees to intervene, resist or do anything but stay back or run.
Boycott Walmart, especially if you can afford to shop elsewhere!
When and if he applies for unemployment Walmart will have to roll over or oppose his benefits. He should ask for a hearing. Bring in witnesses. Get a transcript of the hearing. Put it on the internet. Then he should run the benefits down to the last nickel. Then apply for a job at Walmart. Then file an age discrimination case against them. He is over 40. Put it in federal court. They cannot articulate a rational reason for not hiring him because they hired him in the first instance. Now their only reason will be for helping the victim. It is one hell of a pretext. They fired him because of his age and would not rehire him because of his age. He is entitled to back pay and emotional distress damages. And attorney fees. And reinstatement. The news will not be good for Walmart. They discriminate on age. A lot of us old farts will boycott them.
I see Dick Cheney continues to man the front doors of Wallmart (“Go eff yourself.”)
It is all well and good to discourage employees from acts of vigilantism, but it is sometimes reasonable to recognize exigent circumstances that justify employee intervention.
If a Walmart customer suffers a heart attack, are Walmart employees forbidden from giving CPR on the grounds that it poses a liability risk?
I read the article from the news. Evidently the man punched the employee so it was self defense before he helped the woman. So Walmart says we don’t care what happens on our grounds and you get fired even when it is self defense. Right. makes sense to me.
One more reason not to spread your money into walmart wealth….
Corporations no longer consider their employees Human. We are work units. And we are to NEVER get out of line. Expendable.
“Oswald had worked for Walmart for about seven weeks. He was trying to finish his 180-day probation period”.
———————————————
Well there ya go. He was due for a pay increase. (Maybe? does walmart give any raises)
not impossible to believe anymore since walmart which is own by those who believe in chaos and we all know where that stems from.. they wouldnt have to worry about being sued if their accredited schools didnt continuously put out ambulance chasing lawyers who do not know the real law. but the law taught to them by accreditation and accreditation is taught to keep you from knowing and understanding the truth.. i posted about that earlier this week on another article on this blog with a link to the original site
the important part of the story is the guy did the right thing. who really gives a shit about walmart anyway
One of the reasons I no longer do business with Wal-Mart….
Not that I needed it, but another convincing reason to not shop at Walmart – callous attitude toward victims and the good Samaritans who help them.
If the poor victim had been seriously injured and Mr. Oswald intervened, WTFmart would probably not be content with a simple termination, but might have pressed charges (of some type) against him.
But, Always Low Prices!
The only reason I can even fathom from Walmart’s perspective is to avoid a lawsuit from the thugs that the employe fought.