Should A Safeway Worker Be Suspended For Stopping Assault?

no

I guess Safeway doesn't believe in the safe ways of their customers.

And if they do or have it will be just one more reason not to shop with them

Whoever suspended him should be canned!

Thats ridiculous, this is what happens when policy overtakes common sense

Safeway only cares about people money and not about the people safety? isn't the name "SAFE-WAY" tells the story!

bravely and so sad live is live , be strong man!

They should be commended-what the hell is wrong with the world today?

Seriously he should be rewarded . Too many people sit back and ignore violence against children or strangers.

Allowing for a bloody mess on the floor, would have gotten him a bonus, I am guessing.
I am glad this got publicity, he will get some dough and end up with a better job. B)

But the reality of working in retail is you never lay your hands on someone, doesn't matter if you witness and assault, attempted murder or try to stop a shoplifter. The criminal(S) in this country can sue said company for the associate that touched them, leading to management firing you or suspending you as a form of damage control.

Sad but true. Companies are always on guard for whatever many result it litigation.

Seems Safeway(hmm wonder if they'll change their name) is not merely dropping the ball on this one, but, spiking it as well.

Unfortunately many corporations have "don't be a hero" rules. They have been in place in large companies for a very long time. Corporations trump morals, ethics, rights. This is the America we live in.

break the rules pay the price, it's the American way

He saved some one from being assaulted.

What about the "reasonable aid" law?

Good Samaritans need to be protected.

He should be awarded for saving someone from been beat up!!

"There's no such thing as corporate loyalty". I learned that the hard way! Several times

(I was a slow learner, at first).

However. corporate america being spine-less, this makes sense, afraid of being sued. Would rather have someone beaten in their stores than chance a lawsuit

They don't really even care about customers or employees, all they care about is "that end display looks wonderful"!

he was doing the right thing..keeping it safe..its a safeway house...lol

Kudos to Young for doing the right thing. Suspension might have been in order if he stood there and did nothing. Whoever suspended him should be fired for being a detriment to the company. What this incident says is Safeway cares nothing about the safety of their customers. Any intelligent management would have hailed Young as a hero even if they told him in private he should have called security at the first sign of trouble. Instead of getting some great positive pr Safeway stores now appear to be an "enter at your own risk" environment.

Safeway is always doing things like that. All they care about is money. Steve Burd is the worst one

What indeed does it say about a company that will insist that it;s employee's stand by when a man is beating on a woman because they fear a law suit. This man clearly did the right thing and if his story is backed by other employees there should be no problem. If an employee is forced to stand by until store security is notified they may indeed be a witness to murder when they may have been able to stop it before it escalated to that point. Safeway needs to define a very clear policy about this so that all employees know exactly what they can or cannot do.

I agree with this employee that I could not stand by and watch this happen. Safeway needs to get the facts and go with a heart instead of worrying about litigation. No question there must be rules but there also must be latitude when things get serious.

Not so safeway

This is a tricky issue though. He clearly did the right thing, but sadly, it was also a liability to the store. From a legal standpoint, you have to be really careful about touching customers if you are an employee at a retail store, whether you are breaking up a fight, or trying to restrain a thief. In both cases, your actions could get your company sued.

this is one of those "undecided" things---the reason he's been suspended is that despite how well the situation turned out, it could have been made worse by his actions, and would have put everybody in the store in danger. the store is probably under pressure from thier insurance company (the liability factor for something of this nature--believe it or not---is HUGE) to set an example for what would be considered "risky"; but dont get me wrong, I would have gladly done the same thing.

IF Safeway stores have a non intervention policy, I understand the reasons behind it. It as an attempt at separating themselves from litigation. IF they have contact store security or a manager policies in place and all employees are fully aware of them, I can also see the reasoning behind it, again, reducing their exposure to litigation. Especially in the climate of Cali where deep pockets are screwed no matter how far divorced from a situation they are.

That said, they should recognize the humanity of this young man. Often, there simply isn't time for procedure. To me, this is similar to the Bush administration's response to Katrina.
Yes, there are laws governing how and when federal help is to be provided, but there also comes a time when you have to say "Hey! DaFuq?! Folks are dying here, get your ass in there and help, we'll sort out the legal issues later".

Safeway should be honoring this young man rather than punishing him.

Safeway are being very foolish with this and are likely to lose many customers who will probably boycott them once this gets out to the other social medai networks.

Suspended? I didn't know they did that in the business world O_o

Often. In many, many businesses.

Are they like school suspensions?

Except usually without pay. They're not nearly as fun. When you have bills to pay, and have to get food on the table, and your car payments in or they'll take your car, and your cell payments in or they'll shut off service, and your utilities, etc.. or you'll be cold and in the dark, losing a paycheck for any length of time is a very, very, VERY bad thing. Plus... they're usually a last resort, before they fire you.

oh, God yes---usually its suspended without pay, so its not a good thing