Pharmacist Foils Robbery At Walgreens, Gets Fired!

If an employee at your store foiled a robbery and saved the lives of customers and workers alike by firing a concealed weapon he was licensed to carry, would you:

A. Promote him and give him a raise.
B. Honor him as a hero and give him a bonus.
C. Unceremoniously fire him.

A Walgreens in Benton Township, Mich., chose 'C' recently, by letting night-shift pharmacist Jeremy Hoven go for firing a handgun during an armed robbery, causing masked gunmen to flee.

The Herald-Palladium reports that when Hoven saw a robber waving a gun running down the aisle towards him, he first tried to call 911, but there wasn't enough time. Before he knew it, the robber had jumped over the counter and was pointing a 9mm pistol at him, holding it gangster-style.

At that point, Hoven pulled out his own concealed gun and fired three to four shots -- whether or not he made contact has not been reported, but Hoven says the gunman tried to fire back, and his gun failed. At that point, he and another robber fled the store.

Hoven reports that he is not aware of any official Walgreens' policy prohibiting employees from carrying concealed firearms at work. And after reviewing the security video footage, law enforcement authorities note that Hoven appears to have done nothing illegal. Meanwhile, Hoven's attorney is investigating the possibility of filing a wrongful termination lawsuit.


Link: http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/0...d/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl9|sec3_lnk1|66571

If I was the manager at the store, I just would have told him never to bring the gun to work again because someone could have been killed with a stray bullet. Can you imagine the lawsuit then? He could also have been killed if the robbers gun didnt jam up on him.

I definitely wouldnt fire the guy, but then again, not doing anything about it would send a message that its okay to shoot at someone if you think they are robbing you, like the wild west.

I wonder if bank tellers will be allowed to carry handguns at work some day for protection, LMAO!

yup, hind sight is 20/20 tho, looking back at this now, its like yeah good thing no one was hurt, but what if the night clerk put a stray round in someone in the store that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

i could see them making a case to fire him because they usually tell the night techs to give them whatever they want to get the robbers out of the store, their inventory of CII drugs are not worth anyones life, or the multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit that could arise. So by him refusing protocol they might be able to fire him.

really tho, way to go to the night clerk. most ppl would probably freeze up. Kinda makes me wonder tho, since this guy was packin at work maybe he was lookin for a reason to use his weapon...and some guy running at you with a 9mm is like yelling "its comin right for us!!" when you are hunting haha..

^south park reference with the "its comin right for us?"
if so, you win

Not surprising. Most companies instruct employees to comply with robbers, or not to chase down shoplifters. If someone gets hurt, whether it be the employee, a bystander or even the criminal, the company could be held liable for it. I think the thinking is to let insurance cover the loss rather than risk a lawsuit. I bet this guy was told this when he was hired.

On a personal level, I don't think he did anything wrong though. If you point a gun at someone, all bets are off. I don't applaud him though. As others have said, carrying a gun and looking for an excuse to shoot at someone is asking for tragedy.

TheLostBoys said:

I definitely wouldnt fire the guy, but then again, not doing anything about it would send a message that its okay to shoot at someone if you think they are robbing you, like the wild west.

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The pharmacist pulling the gun will certainly send a message to the robber. Something along the lines of "better think twice before you dare threaten anybody's life thinking they won't trump you". I think this is a positive.

If there is nothing in company policy prohibiting him from carrying the gun concealed then it is the company's lack of foresight which enabled the situation, not any intentional desire (on the part of the company) to encourage employee gunfire in such situations. I think the company's most appropriate course of action would be to let the incident go, revise and make known policy if there is a preferred, alternative course of action to be taken in such situations. However, firing this guy for doing what was not restricted, because of the company's lack of foresight is stupid.

'medicine cabinet' said:

really tho, way to go to the night clerk. most ppl would probably freeze up. Kinda makes me wonder tho, since this guy was packin at work maybe he was lookin for a reason to use his weapon...and some guy running at you with a 9mm is like yelling "its comin right for us!!" when you are hunting haha..

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I mean maybe the clerk just realized he worked a job in which such a situation had an increased probability of arising. I wouldn't call that "looking for an excuse", perhaps "being realistic and not wishing one's life cut short over oxy, because of an irresponsible scumbag's greed."

They did the right thing, a pharmacist has no place being armed at work, and by firing on the robbers all he did was risk serious injury to himself or to innocent bystanders.

I salute the clerk, WINNING!

Walgreens probably fired him for firing a gun inside their store citing it endangered their customers.... i bet thats what they are basically saying

I've worked plenty of retail jobs and they all say plain and simple, "In the case a robbery, do not resist the robber. Give them whatever they want."

Employees having guns and shooting at robbers can't lead to anything good. It can lead to:
a) robbers quickly shooting all the employees during a robbery rather than just robbing them, (because the robber will assume one of the employees has a gun),
b) retribution against the store by the robber's friends and/or fellow gang members,
c) the employee accidentally shooting a customer, leading to an insane lawsuit against the company (i.e. tens of millions of dollars in the case of a death, millions in the case of a wounding).

I think almost any company would have done the same as Walgreen's and fired the employee in a second. It's never worth it to fight a robber. Most stores, especially large companies like Walgreen's, have insurance against robberies. They don't even cost the company any more than an insurance deductible.

lol holding it gangster style

on a personal level I applaud him for standing up to the peice of shit, but common sense tells u that if you bring a gun to work at any major company, your going to be fired. It would be different if it was a small pharmacy owned by the pharmacist or something. You always see clerks at small locally owned conveince stores being applauded for shooting at, or smashing the robber over the head with something

raver2008 said:

on a personal level I applaud him for standing up to the peice of shit, but common sense tells u that if you bring a gun to work at any major company, your going to be fired. It would be different if it was a small pharmacy owned by the pharmacist or something. You always see clerks at small locally owned conveince stores being applauded for shooting at, or smashing the robber over the head with something

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This.
I`ve got no problem with some one defending themselves,at home or at work. But I don`t think that guy was "looking for an excuse" to shoot some one at all. I know I would be leery to work a night shift at a pharmacy. The independent pharm by me has a sign that says "No Oxycontin in stock" and has still been robbed a few times.
However,I could care less if some one steals from my employer(which happens to be a large soulless company) and I wouldn`t stand in their way unless some one was in danger.
Still,props to this guy for standing up to scumbags. It`s just bunk that he got fired.

raver2008 said:

on a personal level I applaud him for standing up to the peice of shit, but common sense tells u that if you bring a gun to work at any major company, your going to be fired. It would be different if it was a small pharmacy owned by the pharmacist or something. You always see clerks at small locally owned conveince stores being applauded for shooting at, or smashing the robber over the head with something

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The key words in your post are "locally owned". Walgreens is a huge corporation that doesn't give a shit about its employees. Walgreens is only looking out for its ass. "Oh no. What would the media think if we kept an armed employee on the payroll? Get rid of him and any chance of bad publicity."

It's as simple as that. Now if he had saved an infant, woman or elderly person from being shot, (which he may have if he hadn't done what he did) then it would be a different story. "Oh he saved (insert person here)! He's a hero. Sure, he broke store policy, but we can overlook that. Give that young man a raise and tell him not to bring his gun to work anymore!"

Faceless, heartless corporations are killing us off one by one. Even if you're on their payroll. It's just a slower death. End rant-

Now if he had saved an infant, woman or elderly person from being shot

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What if he had caused them to be shot? Provoked/panicking robbers, stray bullets, .. Than the headlines would be 'Irresponsible pharmacist gets innocent bystander killed by trying to be a hero'.

In a country where its as easy to get a gun as in America id friggen reccomend a 9mm to all public service/sales/desk jobs(self defence). Why give guns to everyone else and not use one yourself?

That sucks he got fired, I understand company policy, but he did prevent a loss of product and bystanders were not hurt. He is a hero, but walgreens is a bitch

at least several addicts will no longer be in severe existential crisis for a while

oh wait he foiled the robbery? poor souls

i'd say this pharmacist is an idiot, but i've seen too much televised security tape of robbers firing their guns. when you are getting robbed in the united states, being compliant is far from a guaranteed way to survive. this pharmacist lost his job, but maybe saved his life. no way to tell what was best from that article.