Not all good deeds are always rewarded. Some are meted out by punishments. A 70-year old army veteran learned this truth the hard way when he tried to stop a bunch of shoplifters from stealing merchandise worth thousands of dollars. The army veteran named Jim Tinney was fired from a Home Depot store in Houston for bringing to attention the incident. The man was handed his notice last month after he tried to confront some shoplifters at the Home Depot store in Pearland.
Army veteran fired for countering shoplifters
According to reports, Tinney states that while taking on the job at the store he was trained not to confront shoplifters at any cost.
However, seeing the thieves take things out of the store prompted his military training to kick in, and he threw a Paint Roller extension towards the feet of the shoplifters. Unfortunately, that alone could not stop the thieves and the gang escaped. Tinney says that he knows his action violated the company policy though it was the right thing to do. Tinney says that doing the right thing has always guided him in life and he could not have been a mere spectator to this act.
Tinney says that when he spotted the men shoplifting tool sets worth thousands of dollars, he recalled them looking nervous. According to the army veteran, one of the men commanded the others to leave, and all of they headed out with the tool kits.
The army veteran threw the paint roller extension he was held without much thought to stop the men from escaping the store but was unable to do so.
Two weeks after this incident Tinney was fired from his job. Although Tinney says that he knew what he was doing was against the company policy, he states that he acted out of reflex.
However, in hindsight, he never imagined the administration would fire him. In an interview, the army veteran said that the Home Depot management could have let him off with a warning as this was his very first offense; however, firing him from the job was a “pretty strong” action. The 70-year-old admitted that he loved his job and enjoyed working at the store and needs the pay to make ends meet.
Home Depot issues response for the incident
In a statement released by Home Depot, the management stated that they have a strict policy, which states that only the store’s trained security will engage and tackle with shoplifters. They explain that this step was necessary as there have been prior reports of deaths and injuries over the years. Furthermore, the officials shared that the amount of merchandise is not more important than the safety of the customers and its staff.
