Wal-Mart: YOU'RE FIRED!!!

[gblowfish]

This story was in the KC Star this morning. Wal-Mart fired a brain damaged cashier who worked there for almost 20 years for discounting a jug of sweet tea for a customer by fifty cents. I hope he sues their ass off. Story is here:

Thousands of people are rallying behind a brain-damaged Walmart worker who was fired last week.

Frank Swanson was a cashier at a Walmart in West Plains, Missouri for nearly two decades.

He was well known in the local community as an enthusiastic worker who loved to hug customers.

He was fired just 20 days short of his 20-year anniversary with Walmart.

A Walmart spokesman said he was fired for violating a pricing policy.

"Letting an associate go is never easy," the spokesman said. "For this associate, point-of-sale policies had not been followed in some instances. A recent violation of those policies moved the associate to the final step of our discipline process, resulting in his dismissal."

Swanson's supporters claim he was terminated for giving out hugs, and they are planning a protest at the West Plains Walmart on Saturday to show their support.

More than 1,500 people have committed to attending the rally on a Facebook page called "Hugs for Frank" and another 3,100 said they are interested in attending.

"Walmart has decided to fire Frank, the sweetest employee you'd ever meet, for hugging a costumer," the page reads. "So we're going to gather at Walmart on Saturday April 9th with signs or t-shirts offering free hugs. Let's do this for Frank."

The workers' rights group Making Change at Walmart also released a statement on the matter.

"It appears Walmart fired workers for being decent and kind. So, if you believe in hugs or being nice to customers, don’t apply for a job at Walmart," said Jess Levin, communications director for MCAW.

Swanson's bosses cited his hugs as inappropriate, but that's not why he was fired, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Swanson broke store policy on at least one occasion by discounting a jug of tea by 50 cents, after a customer told him a competitor was selling the tea for 50 cents cheaper,the Post-Dispatch reports. He took the customer at her word, but under store policy, he should have asked her to produce a printed circular proving the competitor's price.

Swanson's sister, Babbi Marsh, confirmed that Swanson was terminated for excessive price matching.

"He never let anyone walk out without paying for their merchandise. What he was told was that he was being let go for excessive price matching," she told the West Plains Daily Quill.

Swanson suffered severe injuries including brain damage following an accident when he was young that left him in a coma for six weeks and temporarily paralyzed, his family told KSPR TV.

Walmart customer Jenn Harper called Swanson a "sign of hope."

"I feel like one of our own has been hurt," she told KSPR. "He's a sign of hope, he made your day better. If you were having a bad day at Walmart, he would light up your whole trip."

http://www.businessinsider.com/walma...0-years-2016-4

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Target is better anyway.

Damn straight.

I can walk in the ladies room and check out the poon in person now...

[bigbucks24]

Originally Posted by ChiliConCarnage

I could see how that would make you unpopular with anybody whose compensation is tied to store sales or profit.

It would also make him popular with people that are trying to get a cheaper price. However, we don't know if he ever gave away an incorrect discount. We do know that he gave away 20 times more discounts that any other cashier, which in and of itself, is a red flag. But it sounds like he wasn't terminated for excessive discounts. It sounds like he was terminated for violation of company policy.

[jallmon]

Originally Posted by Rausch

Damn straight.

I can walk in the ladies room and check out the poon in person now...

[Prison Bitch]

Some LWNJs have bumper stickers: "don't like abortion? Don't have one!"


Same goes for shopping at WM. Don't like em? Don't go

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I wonder how many customers took advantage of him knowing he would give discounts without any price-matching proof? I'm sure some of those protesters are mad to see their discount go away.

Originally Posted by bigbucks24

It would also make him popular with people that are trying to get a cheaper price. However, we don't know if he ever gave away an incorrect discount. We do know that he gave away 20 times more discounts that any other cashier, which in and of itself, is a red flag. But it sounds like he wasn't terminated for excessive discounts. It sounds like he was terminated for violation of company policy.

Originally Posted by vailpass

The customer is required to produce a copy of the ad, according to the article. She did not have a copy of the ad.
Whether the cashier got the price matching correct is irrelevant.

Originally Posted by bigbucks24

So how do you think this should have been handled? From what I can read, his price matching was 20X the next highest cashier. Not slightly higher, 20 times the next highest person. He has gone through the entire disciplinary process. In most companies, that includes multiple steps that include coaching, retraining, verbal documentation and finally written documentation. So you've had multiple conversations with this person about following the rules. This person continues to ignore the rules. How should it be handled?

Originally Posted by gblowfish

The KC Star story is here:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local...e73691612.html

Part of the story:

"All this because a woman in Frank’s line that day wanted to buy a gallon of the sweet tea. She told Frank a store in a neighboring town had a sale price that Wal-Mart was supposed to match.

She didn’t have the ad, as required, but she didn’t need it with Frank. He’d always made it a point to keep up with prices at other stores, so he let her have it at the sale price.

That got Frank called in and fired after nearly 20 years.

“The bosses said I made up an imaginary price,” he said Thursday.

Frank went to Willow Springs and got an issue of a local paper that showed he was right about the price of tea."

Having read all of this, I have a new theory.

Reviewing the facts, we see that he was keeping tabs of prices at other stores, he was giving out discounts at 20 times the rate of other cashiers, and he wasn't requiring that they provide the competitors' ads. We also know that he was very customer-friendly.

My theory is that he was telling people at the counter that a lower price was available without them asking, and then he was ringing it up at that price for them voluntarily. If so, that's a big no-no.

[Valiant]

Meh, if he did not have a brain injury and likes to hug people this would not even be news worthy.

The guy was told countless times that customers need the ad. Even if he was correct most stores require customers to do this or pull it up on their phone. Eventually, 20 years it seems, you are going to get fired for breaking the rules.

He was smart enough to work there for 20 years, he is smart enough to call a manager over.

He got another job, this will not hurt Walmart there and forgotten in a couple weeks.

FYI, I loathe Walmart.. But this is not on them.


Hell, if reports are true that he was 20x higher than the next person doing this then that means that everyone trying to get discount was probably waiting in his line. Most of them probably scammers that will reprint ads with lower prices.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Having read all of this, I have a new theory.

Reviewing the facts, we see that he was keeping tabs of prices at other stores, he was giving out discounts at 20 times the rate of other cashiers, and he wasn't requiring that they provide the competitors' ads. We also know that he was very customer-friendly.

My theory is that he was telling people at the counter that a lower price was available without them asking, and then he was ringing it up at that price for them voluntarily. If so, that's a big no-no.

That is very likely possibility. He probably rain manned all the prices each week.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Valiant

That is very likely possibility. He probably rain manned all the prices each week.

Good point. In every movie I've ever seen, brain damage unlocks limitless power for stuff like that.

Well, every movie but Simple Jack, I guess.

[dj56dt58]

I'll pay the .50 extra just to avoid the hug.

[Beef Supreme]

Charlie Babbit's underwear is on the highway.

[dj56dt58]

I'm sure he would have been replaced by self checkout fairly quickly anyway

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

But you have to know this has cost Wal-Mart thousands more in bad PR than what they saved by whacking this guy.

Ever been to West Plains? The next Wal-Mart is probably an hour away.

[Gonzo]

**** Frank. He knew better than to sell that goddamned tea and then grope the 13 year old girls.

[BlackHelicopters]

I only go to Wal Mart for condoms, lube, and trips to the bathroom.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Ever been to West Plains? The next Wal-Mart is probably an hour away.

Uh, Wal-Mart has other stores too. It might cost some business at other locations. Of course, for those of you who have said things like "I don't want to hug a reerun to get my change" I'm sure Wal-Mart's business practices over the years don't make you never no mind. Hell, they've probably killed just about every other small business in West Plains, so the locals may have no other choice.