Gas Station Employee Fired For Fighting Off Robber

[StColette]

An act of bravery to defend a co-worker has cost a Minnesota gas-station attendant his job.

Mark Beverly, an overnight shift supervisor at a SuperAmerica in Roseville, Minn., was fired in March after he jumped on a masked robber who he believed was attacking a fellow employee.

SuperAmerica said he violated company policy when he came to his colleague's aid in the early morning of March 26. So instead of accolades, Beverly got the boot.

Adding insult to injury, Beverly — who is still looking for another job — has been denied unemployment benefits. He will appeal that decision on June 5.

The trouble began around 3 a.m. when Beverly was cleaning the bathroom and his female co-worker was behind the cash register. Beverly said he heard her scream, so he ran out and saw a robber wearing a blue-stocking cap jostling with her.

"It looked like he was hurting her, so I jumped on him," Beverly said. "I just tried to bang him on the counter a couple of times."

After a tussle, he said, the robber regained his footing and looked as if he was going to pull out a weapon. Beverly said the man told him, "Don't be a hero," before fleeing the store with about $15.

Beverly called police and reviewed security tapes with his managers before completing his shift. "Everything was fine," he said.

The next day, however, he was fired for violating company policy.

Marathon Petroleum Company, the owner of the SuperAmerica chain, said Beverly was told what to do in the company handbook — which advises employees to "cooperate: don't argue, resist or attack the robber" — and through a computer-based training program Beverly was required to complete when he was hired.

"He endangered himself and her, and that’s why we have the policy," said Linda Casey, a Marathon spokeswoman. "And we have enforced it with other employees, not just with him."

"I just thought it was wrong, that's all," said Beverly, who had worked at SuperAmerica for just over a year. "You're not really trained for a robbery, and that was the first robbery I have ever been in in my life."

Capt. Rick Mathwig of the Roseville Police Department said authorities advise people not to take action when faced with a robbery.

"When you start resisting at some way shape or form, the suspect who may not have intended on using the weapon that he or she came with may use it intentionally or unintentionally when faced with a conflict," he said.

Roseville police have listed the case as inactive as they have not been able to identify the robber. The only image of him is partial profile and his face is obscured by the stocking cap, Mathwig said.

The security tape did not show the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer, Casey said. The robber reached in and grabbed cash out of the drawer.

"We have a statement from both [Beverly] and the female employee," Casey said. "Neither one of them say anything about her being attacked, hurt or anything, and the video we have substantiates it."

Beverly said that from his vantage point, he thought she was being attacked.

"With both of them so close it looked — from the angle that I was at — it looked like she was being attacked," he said.

[Autumn Dusk]

Having worked in a convience store and been put in dangerous situations myself I'm not shocked that this guy was fired. With the level of surveylance and face-recognition technology as well as other controls it is FAR more dangerous to aggravate a robber. You are more likely to get someone killed.

Its not fair. However, he violated the policy and put his co-worker in danger. A broken arm or bruise is not as bad as death.

[StColette]

[quote name='Autumn Dusk' post='1534733' date='May 20 2008, 01:26 PM']Having worked in a convience store and been put in dangerous situations myself I'm not shocked that this guy was fired. With the level of surveylance and face-recognition technology as well as other controls it is FAR more dangerous to aggravate a robber. You are more likely to get someone killed.

Its not fair. However, he violated the policy and put his co-worker in danger. A broken arm or bruise is not as bad as death.[/quote]

I agree that he did break policy, but I think it is also in the nature of a man to protect someone, especially if it is a woman. I worked in retail and I've had many customers get really aggrivated for things that I could not help them with. I had one gentleman grab me by my arm, I was standing behind the counter. I worked with 6 men at this store, I was the only girl. Needless to say the man let go very quickly when one of my fellow co-workers step up beside me. This coworker was a national guardsman so I believe it is in his nature to protect because of his background as well as being a man. There have been other occasions when it looked like a male customer was going to take a swing at me but luckily the men I worked with always kept their eye on me.

Edited May 20, 2008 by StColette

[CatherineM]

My baby brother once chased a shoplifter, and tried to reach in and grab the guy's car keys. He ended up riding half way across the parking lot hanging out the driver's door. No money is worth that. I agree with the no resistance policy, but if he truly thought she was being hurt, they could have made an exception. On the other hand, if his jumping the guy had got someone shot and maybe killed, the company would have been on the hook for a big legal payout. Adrenaline pumping though, it is so hard to think clearly.

[Madame Vengier]

I agree with the firing. He sat through an instructional training upon being hired and he signed off on it, indicating that he would act in full compliance. Regardless, he went right ahead and broke the rules which were in place for perfectly reasonable purposes. Then to make matters worse they have evidence that the woman was never being attacked in the first place. So the guy broke a safety-based company rule, endangered his and the woman's life, and behaved in a rash manner indicating extremely poor judgement. "I thought she was being attacked", but she WASN'T being attacked, so he acted on something that wasn't even happening because his judgment is so poor and his behavior is so rash. He should be fired. The robber ended up stealing $15. What if the robber had panicked and used a weapon? Would it be worth someone dying or being severely injured for $15??

The guy is a moron.

[StColette]

[quote name='Madame Vengier' post='1534830' date='May 20 2008, 02:48 PM']The guy is a moron.[/quote]

I would not call this gentleman a moron. Yeah he broke the policy. But it's difficult to keep a cool and collective head when being actually placed in a moment like this. I've known many police officers and soldiers who have lost their cool and reacted in rash ways without even thinking. I wouldn't call them morons. I would call them human.

[kujo]

[quote name='StColette' post='1534847' date='May 20 2008, 03:58 PM']I would not call this gentleman a moron. Yeah he broke the policy. But it's difficult to keep a cool and collective head when being actually placed in a moment like this. I've known many police officers and soldiers who have lost their cool and reacted in rash ways without even thinking. I wouldn't call them morons. I would call them human.[/quote]

Dude, not only did we have that policy at my CVS in high school, but it was generally accepted that I was the designated person to scare aware shoplifters and deal with beligerants. In fact, someone threw a box at one of my cashiers, so I ran from behind my photo counter, tackled the guy to the ground and subdued him before the cops arrived.

[Deb]

Most people would just forget everything they ever knew and wee in their pants if they came upon this situation. This employee did what I would hope anyone would do if it looked like I was being attacked. Stick the policy. How sad of a society are we?
I suppose if the employee had hid himself and then watched as the clerk was beaten, raped and killed, he would get a raise? They would be hanging him high.

It is one thing if the robber asks you for money and you can just hand him the money and he flees. I think that is probably what their policy is about.

[Autumn Dusk]

[quote name='Deb' post='1534895' date='May 20 2008, 04:34 PM']Most people would just forget everything they ever knew and wee in their pants if they came upon this situation. This employee did what I would hope anyone would do if it looked like I was being attacked. Stick the policy. How sad of a society are we?
I suppose if the employee had hid himself and then watched as the clerk was beaten, raped and killed, he would get a raise? They would be hanging him high.

It is one thing if the robber asks you for money and you can just hand him the money and he flees. I think that is probably what their policy is about.[/quote]


Actually, no. Many times criminals have guns.

There was a rash of off-hours alcohol bulglaries when I worked at a convience store. Our store was broken into when no one was there, as were all the stores. However, at one bar, after it has closed, the thieves stole some liquor. A man, and his buddy, one passed out drunk, the other barley coherent were outside at an unlit picnic table. The theives charged the men and the barley coherent man stood to defend his buddy. He was beaten, killed and thrown in a gully a mile away.

The men robbing didn't have a gun. They killed this guy anyway, incited by their blows to him. Before the authorities captured the killers one of them came, drunk, into my store. He was complaining about his foot and how the person who did it to him paid. I had to refuse him sale of alcohol, and I was there alone. He was quite belligerent. If it had not been for a local man who scared him (verbally) off I may not be here. I didn't even know the danger until a couple of days later.

A store cannot advise employees to act to protect others. They could wind up dead. Insinuating that they want someone to watch while a co-worker is being beaten or raped is disgusting.

And by law we are NOT obligated to save a stranger or a co-worker. If you kill someone who's trying to kill your friend under law you could be charged with manslaughter. The law only allows you to protect someone under your direct care (such as a babysitter protecting a child or a general protecting his solider but not a manager who has a monitary contract with his employee) or a parent, sibling or child. These are the ONLY people you could legally save if someone was trying to kill them.

[Autumn Dusk]

double post

Edited May 20, 2008 by Autumn Dusk

[Laudate_Dominum]

I don't think you can reduce such situations to a mere calculation of risk; I would have beat the living crrrap out of that guy as a matter of principle.

[kujo]

[quote name='Laudate_Dominum' post='1534914' date='May 20 2008, 04:52 PM']I don't think you can reduce such situations to a mere calculation of risk; I would have beat the living crrrap out of that guy as a matter of principle.[/quote]

I agree. He did what all guys hope we would...stick up for the "damsel in distress." More power to him.

[Autumn Dusk]

[quote name='kujo' post='1534917' date='May 20 2008, 04:54 PM']I agree. He did what all guys hope we would...stick up for the "damsel in distress." More power to him.[/quote]

statistically his "sticking up" would of gotten them both killed. He's just lucky the theif didn't have a gun.

[kujo]

[quote name='Autumn Dusk' post='1534919' date='May 20 2008, 04:55 PM']statistically his "sticking up" would of gotten them both killed. He's just lucky the theif didn't have a gun.[/quote]

Running into burning buildings would "statistically" get you burned to death.
Stopping a mugger from acosting an elderly woman would "statistically" get you beat up.
Running out into the street to save a child who has fallen off his bike would "statistically" get you run over.

Doesn't mean that they aren't the right thing to do.

[Laudate_Dominum]

[quote name='Autumn Dusk' post='1534919' date='May 20 2008, 02:55 PM']statistically his "sticking up" would of gotten them both killed. He's just lucky the theif didn't have a gun.[/quote]
The robber is the one in the wrong here and in my opinion it a person always has the right to defend themselves (or their property) from an assailant. I went to school with some kids who robbed a store and on their way out (after getting the money) one of them shot the lady cashier just for kicks. I also know a lady who had her head blown off when a criminal's gun "accidentally" went off. If someone gets in your face like that, whether they are showing a weapon or not, anything goes.