A Michigan woman devoted the past 31 years of her life to providing service to a local Kroger grocery store located in Lincoln Park, Michigan. However, one day she was fired for doing her job and saving her employer potentially hundreds of dollars.
In Late September, Beverly Bennett, a 61-year-old employee noticed a person attempting to walk out of the store with a basket full of liquor. She quickly reacted to stop the theft and called for backup, which ultimately deterred the man from taking the merchandise, as he ran toward the parking lot. Co-workers touted her as a hero for her actions.
Less than a week after the incident occurred she was suspended from employment pending an investigation. To surprise and dismay, Bennett was fired shortly after the meetings where she had explained her attempt to protect the store's merchandise by stopping a thief.
After obtaining a copy of her employee file, which acknowledged that she had no blemishes or adverse reactions on her record, Bennett decided to file a lawsuit.
“To terminate (Bennett) based upon her actions in protecting her employers’ interests and discharging her obligations as she was taught and instructed by the employer constitutes a violation of public policy,”- court documents
As part of the filings, it alleges that after the shoplifting situation, she was "congratulated and called a hero by co-workers including her supervisor." In addition, she had received calls from concerned employees who had learned of her firing behind the incident.
“This is devastating. I’ve always had my own money and worked my whole life, and then to have nothing. "-Beverly Bennett
Bennett, who spent over three decades working for the company, has lost access to her pension and retirement benefits as a result and remains devasted by the ordeal. As she awaits her day in court, she grapples with how the situation will impact her going forward.
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