Employee fired for saving a life in uniform because it gave a 'negative image.' + Update
"Fired for saving a life"
qirad
Title says it all. This morning I was on my way to work when someone in the opposite side of my train carriage had pretty much dropped dead. I'll save you the gory details, but I make sure to keep up to date with my First Aid + CPR certification. Even though I was in my work uniform, I didn't mind getting it dirty if it means I can help someone.
By the time the guy was breathing again, the paramedics & police had arrived. The police wanted me to give a statement, so I did. Due to the fact there was now a "biohazard" on the train, they cancelled the service, forcing me to wait an extra hour for a train.
I gave the courtesy of letting my work know I'd be about an hour and a half late to work bcos of this. Once I arrived at work, my boss had taken me into a meeting with himself and HR.
I provided evidence, including the details of the police officer who I gave the statement to, and screenshots showing that there was an "incident" at the station on their website.
Nope. Not good enough apparently. I was fired on the spot. Apparently being in uniform while giving CPR causes a "negative image" for the company I work for. WTF.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after the OP's initial post:
minimax34
go to the local Television Station of Newspaper, Great story, for you, bad for your employer.
Pop_Culture_Phan_Guy
Sounds like this is the best thing that’s happened to you. Do you really want to work for a company that isn’t happy that one of their employees took time out of his work day to save a random strangers life?
chronberries
I had kind of a similar thing happen to me like 10 years ago. I was biking to work one day when a car turned and cleaned me out. Classic movie stuff, face planted on the hood, bike and myself go spiraling over it to land on the other side of the car.
A nice guy that saw the whole thing offered to give me a ride to urgent care to get checked out, but I was in shock and told him I just needed to get to work. So he loaded my mangled bike into his trunk and drove me to work, telling me the whole time that I really needed to get checked out because I was pretty beaten up. Got fired for being late.
buell_ersdayoff
Lol I’m sorry but you can do something to help your self and maybe the people after you but you instead chose to whine on Reddit. That’s why everything stays the same.
The OP then returned to respond to comments.
"Edit:"
qirad
Thank you everyone for the positive comments, I didn't expect this to blow up like it did. I just wanted to vent my frustrations. A lot of you have been suggesting me to go to the news, so I sent an email to few of my local news stations.
I got replies from two of them saying they'd be interested in doing a story. I had a phone interview with one but after I asked to not have my face or name publicised they turned me down. I'm quite a private person and don't like having my name/face out there publicly. The other news station will be calling me tomorrow so I will write an update with how that goes.
I've also heard a lot of you saying sue/lawyer up, but however labor laws in my country are not that great. I'm only a casual worker, which means they can fire me for whatever reason at any time and there's not much I can do about that.
For those asking where I work, it's a local high-end technology retailer that I don't want to out for the privacy reasons mentioned above.
"Edit 2:"
qirad
For those of you who keep asking me to reveal myself & or the company. No. I was stalked by my ex-boyfriend from the other side of the country, who I currently have a protective order against.
I've since changed my name, and would not like to publish my face & new name for the whole country to see. Yes, my name and face are currently public (i.e company social media & reviews), but the chances of him finding it will increase exponentially if I end up on the news.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after hearing more from the OP:
Prevalentthought
Company deserves to be shamed into chapter 11 bankruptcy.
hallo-ballo
Make a gofundme if you need help now without work, will fund 🫶
OrdinaryOne9605
That's unfortunate. I hope you take solace in the fact that you did a wonderful, literal life saving thing.
Galliad93
honestly, as an employer I would want to ask you if there was a news prodcast. if there was, I would of course cancel your pay for the hour you missed and then give you 2h of wage as a bonus on the spot because it is good press since you had your uniform on. meaning you can leave an hour early if you want or get an extra hour pay. (would deduct that hour of pay from marketing)
BuffalowRoams
I'd figure out a way to make this go public, as it could make the company look really bad. HR is creating a very apathetic work environment if they're firing you over saving a life.