Home Depot fires employee for heroic act
September 5th, 2007Dustin Chester, a department manager at the Home Depot store in Murfreesboro, Tenn., saw a man standing next to a soda machine outside the store with a crowbar and a handful of cash.
Chester confronted the man, who took off running. Courageously, Chester ran after the guy, caught him and restrained him until police arrived.
For his efforts, he got a pink slip from Home Depot.
Chester was shocked to find out that for managers and most employees, catching and detaining thieves is against company policy.
“The district manager told me that we are supposed to let thieves walk away; it blew my mind,” said Chester, a one-time employee of the year.
The Home Depot said its policy, which directs workers to notify loss prevention specialists or police to handle criminal situations, is in place to protect its employees and customers.
“The associates involved were not following company policy, resulting in this disciplinary action,” said Don Harrison, spokesman for the Atlanta-based company. “Safety is a primary focus for our company.”
Hey Home Depot. You want to be a slave to your policies by firing Dustin? That’s fine. I’ll simply refrain from shopping at your slimeball store again. I’m sure a lot of other Americans will do the same thing.
As if I needed another reason not to patronize Home Depot. Lowe’s has always been far superior anyway.
When I worked for Lowes, I got in trouble for chasing a thief. Didn’t get fired, but I got a severe talking to. Seems like there have been some lawsuits over retail employees being a bit overzealous in chasing down thieves — some of which turned out to not be thieves at all.
Termination for something like this is stupid. Unless the guy had previously broken rules or been in trouble for poor performance, Depot is out of line. Sit the guy down, let him know why the policy is in place, then pat him on the head for trying to help out the bottom line.
I have never been big on Home Depot anyway (I get by with Lowes but am not huge on them either). This is stupid as a person who managed a retail store for several years I would have comended Dustin and given him a bonus. I am with you Tim I will not patrionize their store.
I’ve never been to a Home Depot either anyways, as my area only has Lowes instead. Good thing!
Orange is my favorite color though…
I know that sounds stupid, but I’ve always liked Home Depot better probably because of that. Hey, that’s marketing for you.
But you’re right - Home Depot is apparently run by idiots if they let this happen.
This reminds me of my public school system. There’s no fighting whatsoever - even in self-defense or in defense of someone. You get the same punishment, regardless. I’m sorry, but if some guy starts beating on me, I’m fighting back. If I see some guy assaulting some girl, I’m going to knock his block off. I’m not going to go run tell a teacher, who isn’t allowed to restrain them either, just to waist time. I’m going to stop it. Gotta love it when someone gets suspended or expelled or fired for helping someone.
Yeah, I’ve never liked Tony Stewart anyway.
The Issue: The policy could be in place so that Home Depot will not get sued by the family of the employee who chased down a criminal and got killed or severely injured or a bruised face. This policy counteracts America’s flippant use of the court system to collect exuberant amounts of unwarranted cash.
So, how does a company (small or large) deal with issues like this? How do they reward those who want to do good (this guy) and keep those who are looking for settlements out of those situations (most Americans working minimum wage jobs)?
j razz
Rats! Somebody beat me to a nascar comment.
It does seem a ridiculous situation but as j razz points out, our sue-happy culture is probably to blame. If the employee had injured the thief, next thing you know Home Depot is being sued by some criminal and there’s no guarantee that the crook wouldn’t win such a suit in today’s world.
I think there are two issues here, though, each feeding off the other. Our lawsuit-happy culture is most definitely partly to blame, but it’s the general attitude indoctrinated in to all of us by society that we should “stand back and do nothing”, call the police or a supervisor and let them handle it that concerns me. As Scott pointed out, school systems no longer use judgement - if you throw one punch, regardless of what the reasoning was, you’re gone - and now many businesses have followed the same suit. Wal-Mart lets shoplifters go if it’s under a certain amount ($20?).
Turning our courts in to a loser-pays system won’t stop the problem of our society sitting back and watching bad things happen.
Lowe’s has wider aisles than Home Depot.
Agree with Larry and JRazz, but then why couldn’t they do what most corporations would do in this situation–have a few boring seminars/presentations for all employess, take a stupid test indicating you understand it and be done with it.
Firing him, regardless of policy, is stupid.
But…but…but, I LIKE Tony Stewart.
HEY!! You can dislike Home Depot, but lay off Tony Stewart!!!!!!! I am not a fan of Jimmie Johnson, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like Lowes…..
I’m not sure I’d be advertising this policy if I were Home Depot - “come on in and take whatever you want, we won’t stop you!”
Don’t hear me wrong… I find that this shows itself as an act of ungratefullness. There must be a way to protect yourself/company and honor those who are loyal to your company. I understand policy, but I also understand mercy. A parallel if I may: It is almost like someone breaks in to rape your wife, your friend who is asleep in the guest room wakes up and kills the guy. In this situation you, as the husband, are appreciative but you have to report your friend to the police for killing a guy and then testify against him due to the alleged rapist’s family pursuing a lawsuit. You are grateful, but according to law you must testify (or plead the 5th) and you must report it.
According to Home Depot policy, you must not pursue criminals. You are not to pursue criminals to help the company avoid the subsequent lawsuits that could come about from any numerous reasons. The difference is that Home Depot would rather their wife be raped than you do anything about it. They would rather wait for the police to come and break it up while you stand there and watch. At least, in our parallel. Of course, we are talking apples to oranges, but to avoid the latter, they would rather stomach the former. At least, that is my understanding of the issue.
j razz
That is one crazy parallel. I want my mommy.
I wondered why everyone stopped posting after my post
j razz
j razz,
Whatever happened to the right to defend yourself in your own home? I’m sorry, but if someone breaks into my home and I feel the least bit threatened, I’m going to eliminate the threat (which is a nice way of putting it, I think).
I’d much rather deal with the court system later, after the fact. It’s ridiculous when people get thrown in jail these days for defending themselves or loved ones against criminals.
What a world we live in.
Hey, I get to run for president for the 2028 election. Remember everyone: Gladin ‘28!
I worked at Home Depot for 2.5 years while doing my masters in Louisville. In fairness, they beat it into you from day one that if someone is trying to steal something, let them go. They are clear that if you do something more than call the Manager on duty in the case of shoplifting/stealing, you will be terminated immediately without question. They are clear during training that no loss of money is worth an associate putting their lives in jeopardy. They never say do not intervene if a person is being assaulted. They do say get the manager on duty, if possible and there is time (and I’ve had some managers that would beat the snot out of someone if they were assaulting someone). You would not be fired from stopping an assault, but no associate has an excuse for stopping a robbery. Having said that, I’m no big fan of Home Depot, but you guys don’t seem to have all the facts.
Thanks for the info, David. I still think it’s a sleazy way to treat the guy.
If only Tony Stewart would observe Jeff Gordon shoplifting!
1 pseudo athlete beaten, another fired.
Two for the price of one. Not a bad deal altogether.
Yeah, I think that’s where j razz’s analogy breaks down just a bit. Maybe amend it to say “a guest is home while a robber breaks in and the guest tackles him in the street?”
Here’s another related story for you all.
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/061807/met_178250725.shtml
Some states do not have a castle law if I am not mistaken.
j razz
I understand thinking it’s sleazy, but if I were a business owner, I wouldn’t want to risk my employees getting hurt for something that is insured out the whazzoo. I think most of the big companies, in particular, have similar policies. Frankly, it would be bad business not to…too much risk. Anyway, I signed on to work there with that understanding…so did that guy. Cheers.
That particular policy was not in place 7 years ago when Dustin was hired.
I know Dustin personally. He is one of the best guys anyone could ever hope to meet, as well as a great worker. I have worked for Home Depot for several years. My relationship with the company will end soon. Home Depot has many policies which I find astonishing and wrong. The company has a policy of prohibiting employees from keeping firearms in their cars when on HD property. HD also provides same-sex benefits to homosexual couples just as they do for married heterosexuals. I could go on and on. It is clear to me that Home Depot is not worthy of any customers or employees. Stay away! You do not need a big box store in order to shop. Support your local merchants.
Paul,
I agree with you on supporting local merchants. I try my best to support the local Do-It-Best Lumber Yards, Ace and True Value Hardware stores. I do use Lowes on some items, I don’t like to but in some ases I have no other option. I did not know about the homosexual deal with Depot. Thanks for letting me in on that. I will not be entering or supporting their store in the future.
An angel appeared
in a holy vision
Stood by my bedside
in shivering light
Spoke my name
Told me my mission
I could not believe I was hearing him right
Because he said, ‘Go, my son, go…
Always go to East Asheville Hardware
Before you go to Lowe’s
He said, Go to East Asheville Hardware
Before you go to Lowe’s
You’ll help to keep them open
I’m worried they might close
From the stiff competition
From the national conglomerate
With the full page ad
in the color section of the Sunday paper supplement
and stacks of plastic swimming pools
and seven brands of power tools
and rows and rows of registers
all having nice days
But no, you go, he said to me with light around his face
He said, You go first to that age-old place
To that old wooden door
that you have to close behind you
To the wide-board wooden floor
worn down soft
To the real thing
Good advice, quality at a fair price
And know that they know how deep the frost goes here.
Sure there’s stuff you’ll have to find at Paty’s, Lowe’s or Sears
But go to East Asheville Hardware
Go to East Asheville Hardware
Before it disappears.
I wish an Ace Hardware would open up in Jackson. It would put HD out of business.
Of course, HD isn’t losing money when they lose merchandise. They simply raise the markup on everything else.
There is the handy home center (I think that’s the name). I buy a lot from them. They are off Royal going south through downtown and right on the other side of the bi-pass over-pass (on the left).
The customer service is spectacular and they have wide wooden floors. If you have a question, they have an answer that makes sense and they definitely know what they are talking about.
j razz