Safeway employee suspended for stopping beating

brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,427
edited May 2012 in A Moving Train
Seems to me they should at least investigate first before suspending the guy. What do you think?

http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coas ... ding-woman

"Safeway clerk overwhelmed by national attention for defending woman

Ryan Young just wants his job back.

But the Monterey Peninsula resident found himself on CNN on Thursday morning, having unwittingly become a hero.

Some see his story as one of common sense and heroism thwarted by rigid corporate policies and the fear of liability.

Just about a month after Young stepped between a customer fighting with his pregnant girlfriend in the Safeway store in the town of Del Rey Oaks, where Young is a meat clerk, Safeway is still investigating the incident. And while Young waits for Safeway to wrap up the investigation, he's been suspended without pay — a particularly acute hardship because he and his wife are expecting a baby.

"I saw someone in danger and I just reacted to the situation," Young said on Thursday, tired after a day of nonstop reporter phone calls and his CNN interview.

In the wake of the story hitting TV news, newspapers and social media, Young has received an outpouring of support locally and nationally.

Safeway has urged the public to reserve judgment while it conducts a thorough investigation, saying there are two sides to every story. The company said it is proceeding through the proper grievance procedure laid out in its labor agreement, while the president of the union Young belongs to, UFCW Local 5, has said he's working with the company to try to expedite that process.

On April 21, Young stepped between a man and his girlfriend when they were fighting near the meat counter at the Safeway
Advertisement
store. Young later told police the man they arrested, Quyen Van Tran, was kicking the woman, who was five or six months pregnant. When Tran didn't back down, Young struck him.

Del Rey Oaks Police Chief Ron Langford personally responded to the domestic disturbance call along with other officers. Langford later wrote the store manager a letter commending Young for his actions after the department investigated the incident.

Another Safeway customer who said he witnessed the end of the altercation that day is standing by Young.

Harvey Sullivan said he was doing some quick shopping when he heard yelling, witnessed the unruly customer — whom he said smelled like alcohol — fighting with a pregnant woman. Sullivan said he saw Young step between them, then strike the man. He went to put his arm around Young to help defuse the situation and ask if he was OK.

"I wanted to be supportive of him because from any perspective, the guy was being really abusive to his girlfriend," Sullivan said. "I think (Young) deserves a medal for stepping in there."

Young said he showed up to work for his next shift after the incident, and he said a loss prevention manager at the store reassured him that everything would be alright, and that he supported what Young had done.

But the next day, Young was suspended without pay and given no end date for his suspension. He said the response he kept getting was that he "may be getting a letter in the mail."

While he waits, Safeway customers and sympathetic members of the public have been giving the supermarket chain a piece of their minds, whether on the company's Facebook page or in old-fashioned letters and phone calls.

Paul Cook, who said he shops at the Carmel Safeway, wrote two letters to Safeway after he saw the article posted on a blog.

Cook said he was riled up because it seems Young is being punished "after he did something that any sentient being would believe to be an act of heroism."

"The whole idea in corporate America is we don't want to be sued," said Cook, a retired Silicon Valley manager. "I would have done exactly the same thing if I had been at the store."
"Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

"Try to not spook the horse."
-Neil Young













Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • hedonisthedonist Posts: 24,524
    I hail this fellow and think he did the right thing (and yes, two sides to the story, etc.). I also get that the investigation requires certain protocol, like the automatic suspension.

    What pisses me off, though, is how he can be suspended WITHOUT pay. Teachers recently accused of molestation out here have been suspended WITH pay while their cases are being looked into (this including the sick fuck who had videotaped his acts with little kids).

    That part makes zero sense to me.
  • badbrainsbadbrains Posts: 10,255
    Only in America.........what a complete fucken joke of a system....
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,200
    Man would they have prefered if the customer had kicked his girlfriend till maybe she lost the baby. I mean would that scenerio sit well with their Safeway policies...I mean come on man!

    Sometimes one has to shake the tree and if the fruit falls it falls.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    badbrains wrote:
    Only in America.........what a complete fucken joke of a system....
    if i were the butcher i would not return to work at safeway as a employee or customer, ever...

    i would then tell my (x) boss and the ceo of safeway to suck my boys and then i'd make it my life's mission to smear safeway's bunk ass character on a daily basis until i grew tired
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • peacefrompaulpeacefrompaul Posts: 25,293
    I would assume the suspension is for his own protection, or for Safeway's protection. They don't want the riff-raff...

    Still, without pay? That is absurd!
  • know1know1 Posts: 6,794
    I pretty much unilaterally support the private business to police its own policies, so in this case I think Safeway did the right thing.

    I also support the right of the employee to quit and work somewhere else that has policies more to his liking.
    The only people we should try to get even with...
    ...are those who've helped us.

    Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    friviouls lawsuits have changed the way business are run,they have to watch their backs more than ever these days but I still think the kid did the right thing.

    Godfather.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,427
    Godfather. wrote:
    friviouls lawsuits have changed the way business are run,they have to watch their backs more than ever these days but I still think the kid did the right thing.

    Godfather.

    Yes frivolous lawsuits have complicated business, Godfather. On the other end of the spectrum, they've also prevented legitimate lawsuits from happening at times. I'm still fight to get even just my medical covered from my fall in a KFC last November. Even if it does get covered, I'll likely never see any compensation beyond that.

    I think the guy did the right thing also but your point about lawsuits does highlight the difficulty Safeway may be having in this issue.
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    hang on... hang on.... the safeway employee struck the man?? what does struck mean in this instance??
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,427
    hang on... hang on.... the safeway employee struck the man?? what does struck mean in this instance??


    Apparently so. At firts the article says Young stood between Tran and the woman but later in the article it says, "When Tran didn't back down, Young struck him."
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    brianlux wrote:
    hang on... hang on.... the safeway employee struck the man?? what does struck mean in this instance??


    Apparently so. At firts the article says Young stood between Tran and the woman but later in the article it says, "When Tran didn't back down, Young struck him."

    i have a problem with this. if he was already between the girl and her abuser why not just lead the girl away.. then if the abuser wanted to carry on itd be on him. but of course i know how easy it is for me to sit back and dissect the scenario. nice to see safeway stick my their employees tho. :roll: *shakes head*
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • chadwickchadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    simple shit. the dude kicking and yelling at his g/f shoulda been beat with an axe then tossed out on his fuckin ass.
    the safeway shoulda gave the meat counter worker a fucking bag of killer green bud, a raise, and a 2 week paid vacation whilst high dollar call girls massaged his every muscle.

    modern day bunk ass society aint worth a fuck.

    hopefully with all the good energy in the world, hopefully this safeway store burns to the ground just because they are fucking ignorant and have zero balls and integrity
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."

    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    brianlux wrote:
    hang on... hang on.... the safeway employee struck the man?? what does struck mean in this instance??


    Apparently so. At firts the article says Young stood between Tran and the woman but later in the article it says, "When Tran didn't back down, Young struck him."

    i have a problem with this. if he was already between the girl and her abuser why not just lead the girl away.. then if the abuser wanted to carry on itd be on him. but of course i know how easy it is for me to sit back and dissect the scenario. nice to see safeway stick my their employees tho. :roll: *shakes head*
    have you ever been involved in a fight ? I mean a real fist fest not yelling and screaming,sometimes there is no time to just walk a victim away.

    Godfather.
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    Godfather. wrote:
    brianlux wrote:

    Apparently so. At firts the article says Young stood between Tran and the woman but later in the article it says, "When Tran didn't back down, Young struck him."

    i have a problem with this. if he was already between the girl and her abuser why not just lead the girl away.. then if the abuser wanted to carry on itd be on him. but of course i know how easy it is for me to sit back and dissect the scenario. nice to see safeway stick my their employees tho. :roll: *shakes head*
    have you ever been involved in a fight ? I mean a real fist fest not yelling and screaming,sometimes there is no time to just walk a victim away.

    Godfather.

    did you not see where i wrote how easy it is for me to sit back and dissect the scenario?
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    brianlux wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    friviouls lawsuits have changed the way business are run,they have to watch their backs more than ever these days but I still think the kid did the right thing.

    Godfather.

    Yes frivolous lawsuits have complicated business, Godfather. On the other end of the spectrum, they've also prevented legitimate lawsuits from happening at times. I'm still fight to get even just my medical covered from my fall in a KFC last November. Even if it does get covered, I'll likely never see any compensation beyond that.

    I think the guy did the right thing also but your point about lawsuits does highlight the difficulty Safeway may be having in this issue.

    if you don't have a lawyer you should without a boubt retain one ASAP and if your lawyer is not making sure your medical needs are not being taken care of without any problems and has not discused a settlement amount with you...fire his/her ass ASAP man ! I have been thru a workmans comp lawsuit that lasted over 3 years and can tell you without a doubt the first thing you do is get an attorney otherwise W.C will screw you to death,trust me on this bro.

    Godfather.
  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    sorry cate :mrgreen:

    Godfather.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,427
    Godfather. wrote:
    brianlux wrote:
    Godfather. wrote:
    friviouls lawsuits have changed the way business are run,they have to watch their backs more than ever these days but I still think the kid did the right thing.

    Godfather.

    Yes frivolous lawsuits have complicated business, Godfather. On the other end of the spectrum, they've also prevented legitimate lawsuits from happening at times. I'm still fight to get even just my medical covered from my fall in a KFC last November. Even if it does get covered, I'll likely never see any compensation beyond that.

    I think the guy did the right thing also but your point about lawsuits does highlight the difficulty Safeway may be having in this issue.

    if you don't have a lawyer you should without a boubt retain one ASAP and if your lawyer is not making sure your medical needs are not being taken care of without any problems and has not discused a settlement amount with you...fire his/her ass ASAP man ! I have been thru a workmans comp lawsuit that lasted over 3 years and can tell you without a doubt the first thing you do is get an attorney otherwise W.C will screw you to death,trust me on this bro.

    Godfather.

    Thanks for the input, Godfather. I tried going with a lawyer- one who was recommended as having a great track record in these cases. The problem is, the whole KFC staff got together and made up big lies about what happened and they all corroborated on their story. My lawyer believed me without a doubt but said it would be my word against theirs in court and they outnumber me! So, time to move on.

    Speaking of which, check out this cool Paul Westerberg (AKA "Grandpaboy") number:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qULtMyPQsdQ
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    talk to another attoreny..just take one more chance what do you have to loose ?

    Godfather.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,427
    Ryan Young's been given his job back. I think this is a good move by Safeway:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47539225/ns ... 8JLqMVXk3w

    http://www.change.org/victories#most-recent
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • Godfather.Godfather. Posts: 12,504
    brianlux wrote:
    Ryan Young's been given his job back. I think this is a good move by Safeway:

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47539225/ns ... 8JLqMVXk3w

    http://www.change.org/victories#most-recent

    very cool, this Tran guy is a mutt, any man that pushes or hits a woman needs his azz kicked IMO.

    Godfather.
Sign In or Register to comment.