Walgreen's Fires Pharmacist Who Fired On Robbers

[SirRealism]

And for those of you wanting to boycott shopping at Walgreens now, take a look at this article about a CVS employee who got fired for the same thing.

Pharmacist Fired From CVS for Using Gun to Thwart Robber

Yep, and CVS also posted some pretty slanted gun stats in the "health" section of their web site a few years ago. (https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...acy_kids_and_guns_this_will_make_you_mad.html)

As someone upthread posted, we have to blame this crap on society first.

But I still wrote a letter to Walgreens today, nonetheless, explaining how they've lost my business.

 

[sadclownwp]

I wonder what people would be saying if the bad guys gun did not malfunction and the pharmacist was murdered. Would it still have been the right call to pull his gun?

What if they shot the other people after that?

I'd be saying what I have said for years, Sucks that most corporations won't let you carry, but no one has ever held a gun to anyones head and told them they had to work for this company.

 

[Bill of Rights]

I received the expected form letter reply from walgreens claiming safety of employees (which their policies prevent) and claiming that police advise that resisting criminals leads to victims being harmed (I'm paraphrasing as I don't have it in front of me) Well, perhaps unarmed resistance leads that way, but in this case, it looks to me like resisting saved lives, so Mr. Hoven was fired for what might have happened.

I also noted that the silence was deafening re: my points about inventory being insured and employees being expendable. In light of that, sadclown, while your loyalty to your employer is admirable, I believe it to be misplaced as I demonstrated it is not mutual.

I suppose that considering their home office is in Illinois, that should not surprise me. It's still sad and it's still wrong, and I still refuse to contribute any more money to their business.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Hoosier9]

I'd really like to know where all of you people shop, since I can't think of any major retail corporation that approves of their employees carrying firearms at work.

 

[Pocketman]

As others have posted, this is a societal issue. Most employers frown upon their employees carrying. Likely there are liability issues involved. Walgreens would be held responsible for the employee's actions, but not necessarily for the BG's. Legal fees, insurance premiums, liability claims, etc. - follow the money and find your answers. (Reminds me of a lawyer joke, but that would be off topic.)

 

[Liberty Sanders]

Here's the Walgreen's form letter:

May 24, 2011




Dear Harry,


Thank you for taking the time to email us with your concern regarding our store at 875 E Napier Rd. Please be assured that Walgreens takes customer comments and complaints very seriously, and we will continue to try to improve the way we do business.

Thank you for contacting Walgreens regarding this matter. Our policies in this area are designed to maintain the maximum safety of our customers and employees.Store employees receive comprehensive training on our company’s robbery procedures and how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation. In past incidents, employees have told us they’ve found this training effective.These policies and training programs are endorsed by law enforcement, which strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects.Compliance is safer than confrontation. Through this practice, we have been able to maintain an exemplary record of safety. We’ve made significant investments in security technology in recent years, including increasing the number of digital surveillance cameras at our stores. With upgrades to security technology, we are able to provide police with high-resolution photographs and video of crime suspects. We continue to invest in state-of-the-art security measures and high-definition surveillance equipment and hope that the apprehension of robbery suspects in the Benton Harbor area will prevent future crimes. Thank you for contacting Walgreens to share your comments.



Again, thank you for taking time to bring your comment to our attention. We hope you'll give us another chance to serve you.


Sincerely,


Queena P
Consumer Response Representative

Ref # 3091784








My response:


I spent my entire adult life in law enforcement, and compliance is NOT safer than confrontation. The only reasonable response to an armed robber is decisive counter-attack. Your fired pharmacist did the right thing.

Like all corporations nowadays, you've reached the decision that it makes more business sense to allow your employees to be murdered than to face the lawsuit that will inevitably result if they kill an attacker. You can always find another pharmacist, right?

I will be doing no more business with Walgreen's.

Lieutenant Harry Thomas
Cincinnati Police Division (ret.)

​

 

[SMiller]

Sweet email!!! The guy did what he had to do to stay alive, that is that, does it suck that he lost his job, hell yah, but he and everyone else is alive and life goes on!

 

[Bill of Rights]

I'd really like to know where all of you people shop, since I can't think of any major retail corporation that approves of their employees carrying firearms at work.

It is one thing to approve of it and quite another to discipline someone for it. I'm not aware of the stores I choose to give my business going out of their way to victimize their employees a second time after they've survived the criminals' doing so initially, and I cant think of another description for what happens when you terminate the income of a person who has saved his own life, those of his coworkers, and your inventory.

Put it this way: Most employers also have a rule about drinking while on the clock, too, yet they look the other way if you take a client to dinner and have a drink in the course of your meal, especially if you land the account. If this guy saved lives and property, I think he should be rewarded. Maybe someone might tell him in passing, "You did good, Jeremy, thanks.. You know you're not supposed to be armed, though, right? OK, cool. I have to tell you that, you've heard it, we'll say no more of it."

Most places I've been, if you get a "verbal reprimand", it goes on your record and comes back off in six months to a year. Even on the off chance that there was another robbery and he did the same thing and got a "written reprimand", what's the chance there'd be a third in a year? Ideally, a manager and for that matter, a corporation would consider the totality of circumstances and bypass the whole disciplinary thing entirely, but no, they've bought into that whole, stupid "zero tolerance" load of crap and instead decided that though he'd never harmed a coworker and in fact, only protected them, they had to make an example of him.

Give people like that my hard-earned money? Not as long as I have a choice, nor will I let them get away with it without hearing about it. They may not care what I think... I don't care that they don't. They're still going to hear about it.

So since you asked where we all shop, I'll turn the question around: Which anti-gun activists are you supporting by giving them your money, and how many of your rights are you willing to surrender to their "heckler's veto"?

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Hoosier9]

So since you asked where we all shop, I'll turn the question around: Which anti-gun activists are you supporting by giving them your money, and how many of your rights are you willing to surrender to their "heckler's veto"?

Blessings,
Bill

Which anti-gun activists am I giving my money to? All of them, I suppose, because in reality, there is no major retailer that would NOT fire someone who carried a firearm at work in defiance of policy and then used it, however nobly. I heartily agree that this is unfortunate, but it is reality. Businesses do not exist to ensure Constitutional rights, they exist to make a profit. Period. I'm willing to bet that you give more of your money to "anti-gun activists" than you realize.

As far as surrendering to "heckler's veto," that is entirely inapplicable in this discussion. Your employer's policy is not heckling, it is the conditions by which you agree to be employed. If you violate those conditions, however unfair you find them to be, you risk losing your employment.

I think the pharmacist did the right thing. But I'm not his employer.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

That is complete BS. There was a situation here a while back. An employee of Marsh went to make a deposit, and he got robbed. In the end they fired him. There is no amount of money worth anyones life. In that situation, if not for the clerk, there could have been deaths. The idiots do not see it that way. They only care about saving face, and covering their six.

 

[youngda9]

So since you asked where we all shop, I'll turn the question around: Which anti-gun activists are you supporting by giving them your money, and how many of your rights are you willing to surrender to their "heckler's veto"?

Instead of turning Hoosier9's question around...how about answering it? Where do you shop? Have you vetted all of the stores you spend money at to determine what "causes" they donate money to? Do you know what causes your money is going to support?

It is one thing to say you'll not shop at CVS or Walgreens because they both fired employees for using their gun against robbers...that makes sense, but it's a reactionary response. How pro-active are you(this is something we should all think about) in really researching where your money ends up. I suspect not very(as a whole), there may be some of us that really do their homework before going into a store.

So puffing our chests out and say we're boycotting store ABC to just spend money at store DEF that, unknowing to us, donates money to anti groups accomplishes nothing.

Something to think about.

 

[jgressley2003]

I believe the guy did the right thing he saved many lives morning including his own. I can't believe that Walgreens fired him for that let alone fire him through an email. What a bunch of cowards.

 

[Wild Deuce]

Yep ... the cowards fired him via email. I would bet a shiny new penny they thought he might draw a weapon and shoot them if they did it face-to-face because .... you know, all gun owners are crazed, trigger happy, killers.

 

[Hoosier9]

So since you asked where we all shop, I'll turn the question around: Which anti-gun activists are you supporting by giving them your money, and how many of your rights are you willing to surrender to their "heckler's veto"?

Blessings,
Bill

I answered your question. Now answer mine, if you would be so kind.

Where do you shop? If you have a list of retailers that allow their employees to carry firearms while at work and to use them if necessary, then please post it.

If you would include restaurants, that would be great, because I really enjoy dining out. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hoosier9]

I'm guessing that I'm not gonna get that list I asked for.

 

[youngda9]

CRICKETS .... LOL

 

[mrortega]

I'm thankful that the Walgreens in Queen Creek, AZ is a 24 hour store. It was the only pharmacy that my adult son and I could find late one night after he was released from a local hospital ER after getting creamed on a freeway. There were only a few customers there and I was very glad to be carrying my G23 in a Serpa on my hip (concealed.) But this story really burns me. The dismissed pharmacist should consider suing the store for putting his life in danger by not providing adequate security. Most Walgreens I've been into have a pitifully low counter in the pharmacy. A kindergartener in a body cast could jump the counter. But a secure pharmacy still wouldn't have protected others in the store. I will contact Walgreens and tell them I'm not shopping there again until they settle with this outstanding young man.

 

[SirRealism]

Here's the Walgreen's form letter:

May 24, 2011




Dear Harry,


Thank you for taking the time to email us with your concern regarding our store at 875 E Napier Rd. Please be assured that Walgreens takes customer comments and complaints very seriously, and we will continue to try to improve the way we do business.

Thank you for contacting Walgreens regarding this matter. Our policies in this area are designed to maintain the maximum safety of our customers and employees.Store employees receive comprehensive training on our company’s robbery procedures and how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation. In past incidents, employees have told us they’ve found this training effective.These policies and training programs are endorsed by law enforcement, which strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects.Compliance is safer than confrontation. Through this practice, we have been able to maintain an exemplary record of safety. We’ve made significant investments in security technology in recent years, including increasing the number of digital surveillance cameras at our stores. With upgrades to security technology, we are able to provide police with high-resolution photographs and video of crime suspects. We continue to invest in state-of-the-art security measures and high-definition surveillance equipment and hope that the apprehension of robbery suspects in the Benton Harbor area will prevent future crimes. Thank you for contacting Walgreens to share your comments.



Again, thank you for taking time to bring your comment to our attention. We hope you'll give us another chance to serve you.


Sincerely,


Queena P
Consumer Response Representative

Ref # 3091784








My response:


I spent my entire adult life in law enforcement, and compliance is NOT safer than confrontation. The only reasonable response to an armed robber is decisive counter-attack. Your fired pharmacist did the right thing.

Like all corporations nowadays, you've reached the decision that it makes more business sense to allow your employees to be murdered than to face the lawsuit that will inevitably result if they kill an attacker. You can always find another pharmacist, right?

I will be doing no more business with Walgreen's.

Lieutenant Harry Thomas
Cincinnati Police Division (ret.)

​

Wow, what are the chances? I got the exact same [strike]email[/strike] form letter from a completely different "Consumer Response something-or-other". And, this, after I checked the box specifically requesting that they not contact me. :-)

 

[Hotdoger]

I answered your question. Now answer mine, if you would be so kind.

Where do you shop? If you have a list of retailers that allow their employees to carry firearms while at work and to use them if necessary, then please post it.

If you would include restaurants, that would be great, because I really enjoy dining out. Thanks in advance.

Google is your friend.

Friend or Foe - TheSecond.us

You can be proactive and add to that site.

NRA National organization anti policy list:

NRA-ILA :: National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies

 

[youngda9]

Google is your friend.

Friend or Foe - TheSecond.us

You can be proactive and add to that site.

NRA National organization anti policy list:

NRA-ILA :: National Organizations With Anti-Gun Policies

Links are very incomplete, and worthless to the discussion at hand. Nothing there connects the dots as to which stores have what policies and where their money is donated to at election time or for anti agendas.

The first link found nothing within 50 miles of my zip code.

The second link does not list Walgreens, CVS, or Pizza Hut...all of which have been discussed here on INGO for firing employees for defending themselves. The second link also does not appear to list ANY stores, just anti organizations.