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reechee	Greeter Puts Out Car Fire In Meijer Parking Lot, Gets Fired http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/15/man-puts-out-car-fire-gets-fired-meijer_n_4446103.html Last month, David Bowers says he was fired from his job as a greeter at Meijer, a retail chain store in the midwest, for putting out a car fire in the store's parking lot. When a customer at the Gaylord, Mich., location asked for help because his car dash was on fire, the 62-year-old told Michigan's Up North Live he took action, and grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. "When you have somebody that's in need," Bowers asked the station, explaining his actions, "don't you help them?" Then, reflecting on what came next, he answered his own question: "I guess not." Bowers was reportedly fired for leaving his post, a position the Associated Press reports earned him $9.30 an hour greeting shoppers. Bowers had been reprimanded one other time in his otherwise spotless 4 1/2 years at Meijer, for chasing down a shoplifter. A statement from Meijer to MLive declines to discuss the specifics of Bowers' situation, instead deferring to company policy for dealing with emergencies: Please be assured that this was not a random decision... We have well-established safety procedures for emergency situations and we train all team members on those procedures. These procedures help ensure the safety of everyone – both customers and team members, and our team members know there are consequences when they don't follow them. News of the incident has prompted some to voice their displeasure on the company's Facebook page. Writes one customer, "Are you kidding me? Mr. Bowers should get a promotion not termination. Time to switch stores!" ------------------ Manufacture or perish.
bjprowler	So, get out the violins for the employee who has been "wronged" by the nasty old heartless corporation.... And forget that the company had a policy that was written to prohibit the employee from putting himself or the customer in jeopardy by trying to extinguish a car fire instead of following policy by calling the fire department... Imagine this same story ending with the car exploding and killing the employee while he was trying to put out the fire...
riverkat	BEFORE I PUT THE FIRE OUT, WOULD HAVE RACIALLY PROFILED THEM FRIST......LOL
Kat Dreamer	Perhaps both the employee and the company can be right. The company has the right to enact policy to protect the company from liability while protecting untrained employees from risk to their lives to save a.....car. At the same time the employee made a decision to violate the company policy to come to the aid of a customer, in essence placing the customers needs ahead of his own employment. Both made logical decisions and both live with the result of their decisions. Now consumers have a decision to make whether this incident impacts their buying decisions.
JeraneW	In making quick decisions, do you think of company policies or consequences. This is why you see people walking past a mugging or robbery in progress. They don't want to become involved in this day and age. We live in a "sick world."
idive	I wonder if any store employees would do ANYTHING to put out a fire in, say, one of their clothing racks, even a small fire, or would they let it burn and get bigger? If someone walked in smoking and tossed their cigarette on the floor, would they have to let it burn, possibly starting a fire, while they called the fire department to come step on it? Hey, policy IS policy, and it MUST be followed... Step on it and you'll get fired. Screw using common sense. My policy is to boycot stores that employ such policies to this extent.
beachcat	There are always exceptions to rules. What makes a nastly heartless corporation, nasty and heartless, is their ridiculous adherence to policies when a little common sense should prevail.
padroo	Exactly my thought. It could have been turned into a great public relations thing instead of a bizarre disaster for both the individual and the company.
bjprowler	A "disaster" would have been if the car had exploded and killed the untrained employee who lost his life while trying to save an automobile
idive	You either watch too much tv where all cars on fire explode in seconds or you think the gas tank is under the dash. I witnessed a crash where a cop was going thru an intersection with lights and siren and hit a car in cross traffic. The car was struck in the left front side panel. The car immediately burst into flames (under the hood). Another witness had a fire extinguisher and unsuccessfully tried putting the fire out. After a couple minutes the car was engulfed in flames. I sat there in traffic for about 15 minutes before making it thru the intersection and the car never exploded.
bjprowler	So, are you saying that the employee manual should say "If the fire is not near the gas tank it's OK to climb into the vehicle and put the fire out"? Do you also believe that it should be OK for a bank teller to pull out a gun and chase a robber down the street? There are good reasons why employers have policies for the protection and safeguard of their personnel and their customers.....The bottom line is safety first It has nothing to do with being greedy or uncaring.....If the customer's life had been in jeopardy and the employee's action saved him I'm sure the company would have applauded his actions as heroic......But that wasn't the case. This message has been edited by bjprowler on 12-16-2013 at 02:27 PM
SirReal	More tarnish for the Golden Rule. Sad