I know the automatic response will be “Get a lawyer.” We may-- but I’d like to get a general idea where the situation stands.
I just got off the phone with my semi-hysterical mother. Tonight, my sister, who works at a gas station, was robbed at gunpoint. When she refused to hand over the money, the robber shoved her down and broke open the register. It fell on her, crushing her hand.
Her manager was called, and told my sister that she may be fired. (My sister did not do the “drop” required, and so the robber got away with $100 extra dollars.) She apparently was very intimidating, demanding my sister work tomorrow afternoon, and if she was late, she’d be fired on the spot. (Tardiness has never been a problem with my sister, so I don’t know what that last part was supposed to mean.)
I’m of the notion that the hositility that the manager showed to my sister was an intimidation tactic, and that the manager was hoping she’d quit to avoid any sort of Worker’s Comp claims.
I know my sister broke a rule which could result in termination, but she’s also been through a hell of a traumatic event and has been injured in the process. (I don’t yet know how badly.)
I’m so sorry for your sister. I hope that she is okay.
Can you post your state? I am not your lawyer, you’re not my client, and I may not even be licensed in your jurisdiction. Off the top of my head, there are two issues here: her immediate injuries, and her fear that she may be terminated. I’ll take those in order.
In most places, workers comp is the sole remedy of an employee for a workplace injury. There are some limited exceptions that, I believe, vary from place to place. I don’t know if any of the exceptions apply, although I would tend to doubt it.
Most places have employment at will, meaning that unless an employee has a contract, the employee can quit at any time, or the employer can terminate the employee at any time. Exceptions are made for things like unionized jobs, or termination against public policy (i.e., you can’t fire someone for being black).
Maybe an employment lawyer will wander in here. This isn’t my field, so I can’t really help you, but I feel for your sister and I hope she gets over this quickly.
In many retail stores, cashiers are supposed to keep only enough money to make change with in their cash drawers. They make deposits (“drops”) to a safe, or to a manager. I worked in a convenience store and in a movie theater box office (not at the same time), and in both cases, I was instructed on how much money I could have in my drawer at any one time. If I got too much money, I was supposed to “drop” the excess into a safe. In fact, at the theater, I was supposed to drop all my currency in the event of a fire, first thing. THEN, and only then, was I supposed to try to escape the box office. Fortunately, we never had a fire. When I was told of this policy, I made up my mind that I was going to use my own common sense about dropping money before trying to escape.
Sis might have more policy problems. Most employers will tell employees to just hand over the money and not offer resistance, as robbers might become more violent and cause injury to the workers. If employers told workers to resist, of course the employers would be held responsible for injuries incurred while resisting.
I hope that Sis heals up well and quickly. I don’t know whether or not the manager has any legal basis for insisting on Sis coming to work tomorrow, however, my guess would be that the manager is scared of something too. Working as a gas station cashier, even in this economy, is just a job, and Sis should get the treatment she needs, and if she can’t go to work, she can’t go to work.
If the employer does encourage, or have a policy of, resistance, then I think the employer would be responsible for your sister’s injuries.
IMO the first thing she should do after being treated is to file a Worker’s Compensation claim. This would establish that she was unable to return to work, and (I think) weaken the employer’s claim of termination for cause.
If the employer is unreasonable and your sister is pissed off enough about it, she might file a lawsuit against the employer for having an unsafe work environment, not providing adequate security, etc. IMO, a person does not have a ‘reasonable expectation’ of being the victim of a crime in the course of employment (except for law enforcement).
Johnny L.A. said almost exactly what I would say. I would add that the manager’s handling of the situation is thoroughly pitworthy. How could anyone with an ounce of compassion require Sis to work the day after being held at gunpoint and injured to boot?
I don’t think it matters whether or not the employer has a policy of resistance, since she was injured at work workman’s comp applies. As for not making the drop, the employer could terminate for failure to follow policy guidelines.
If I remember correctly, there was a case here in Ga where a convenience store clerk was fired after the robbery because he resisted the robber. The store’s policy was to hand over the cash in the drawer to avoid the risk of someone getting hurt.
Don’t know what state you’re in, but in most states workers’ compensation will be your sister’s only remedy. And it’s usually not much of a remedy. It covers the medical expenses (though the worker must usually seek medical treatment from the insurer-approved physician, at least initially – see a lawyer for more details), plus reduced compensation for time lost from work due to injuries (only if there’s medical certification that the worker is unable to work), plus a minimal lump sum for any permanent impairment. Not much help all in all.
The exception is where an employer intentionally injures a worker. Then the worker may sue. A *few * states have carved out another exception and allowed the employee to sue the employer where the employer has shown reckless disregard for the safety of the worker. Mere negligence won’t cut it.
Of course, your sister has the right to sue the robber who caused the injury, but he is long-gone, and surely doesn’t have any assets anyway.
The only other possibility would be a claim against some third party that might have been negligent. For example, if a hypothetical security system had failed there might be a claim against the manufacturer or seller of that system.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it wouldn’t surprise me for your syster to be terminated in this situation. It happens quite often that when a worker has a potential workers’ compensation claim, the employer looks for some legitimate excuse to terminate that worker. (They can’t terminate in retaliation for making a claim.) Sounds like your sister may have given the employer a “legitimate” reason for termination by not following the drop policy.
Can you explain this? How does terminating help with a workers comp claim (I assume you mean that the employer will try to get out of paying the claim)? The claim arose during employment, so even if she’s terminated, wouldn’t she still be able to make her claim? (After all, the employer knows she’s injured.)
After she refused to open the register, he shoved her. As she fell, she hit the panic button. He smashed the register, which fell off the counter onto her. After grabbing that cash, he demanded she open the safe-- that’s when he held what she describes as a “big silver gun” to her head and screamed at her. She refused.
A small part of me marvels at her stupid courage. If a gun was pressed against my temple, I’d say, “Sure, dude, whatever you want! You want some smokes, too? How 'bout some beer and beef jerky?”
I was on the school bus going to high school when we passed a 7-11 with a sheet-covered body in the parking lot. The armed robber had been shot dead by the clerk. The clerk was fired. This was in California about 25 years ago, so it’s been a longstanding policy of 7-11 that clerks shall not be armed. I don’t know if there was a non-resistance policy at the time.
I was confused at first too, but I think what is meant is that if she is terminated, the sister cannot claim workers’ comp for time off due to any injuries she received while on the job. Her medical expenses should still be covered under WC but if she’s fired, they don’t have to continue to pay her under WC. (Although I am not sure of the exact rules of WC and how they relate to terminations in cases like this. Maybe there’s some rule whereby the employee can be terminated but the company would still have to pay wages under WC if the employee can’t work somewhere else because of the workplace injury. Or maybe the employee would just get paid in that case under unemployment comp. Not sure how it works.)
This situation sucks. My sympathies to you sister.
I do want to point out, however, that not making the drops properly is not an inconsequencial offence. The drops are there for the employee’s safety as much as to protect money. Now every criminal in town knows that this gas station keeps a lot of money in the register, and you can bet it’s going to be way more attractive to rob it now.
I used to be a night manager for 7-Eleven. Company policy forbade firearms for employees, but I always carried one while I was working. I figured it was far better for them to be able to fire me than for my wife to have to worry about burying me.
And one of these days, somebody is going to make a case against 7-Eleven and/or others that preventing them from defending themselves against attack is creating a hazardous work environment.
I don’t know the staffing situation where Lissa’s sister works, but in reply to even sven’s comment, when I worked at a gas station, I was the only one manning the till. With no training and no assistant, I thought it was ludicrous that I was expected to take 3 minutes to cash out some money, count it up, bundle and lable it properly and drop it, while a growing lineup of customers fiddled with their change and packs of gum. When all the customers were dealt with I’d do it, but it wouldn’t work otherwise.
Incidentally, if I’d been robbed, I’d have given the cash up, and since the only camera was pointed at the till from the front, the owner would have had a tape recording of me looking freaked out. If they’d have tried to blame me, they would have had a lovely view of my middle finger too.
Me too. Whatever they wanted – minimum wage isn’t worth protecting my boss’ money.
Several years ago (I’m in WV) we had a similar robbery in which the clerk *offered to help the robbers carry the beer out of the store * – and they blew him away anyway. This, not the murder itself, is what ended up getting them life with no parole (as opposed to life with parole), because the jury was so pissed off when they found out the dead guy wasn’t in any way a threat.
I’m glad your sister is ok, and I hope she gets a lawyer.
I have a part-time job at a gas station attached to a grocery store. I do drops during slow times, since people seem to come in bunches. If I need to do one and don’t do it, I’m told after a while the register will lock up completely. I do NOT like handling that money in front of people, so I don’t.
I was told that if somebody robs me, to give them the money, try to get a good look at them, and immediately call the police (besides getting a manager out there, of course!). They’d rather be out the money than out a cashier, which I think is a reasonable policy.
Hug for your sister. How scary. And seeing as this isn’t the Pit, I can’t say what I think of her manager…