fandango_matt: He wasn't fired for saving the woman's life. He was fired for having a gun at his work. Nice editorializing, there.But wasn't he a resident employee, akin to on-site apartment managers (who are usually residents given a moderate rent discount in return for being the on-site manager). It's not like he came from off-site with a gun, from what I'm gathering he woke up from his own apartment, where he legally had a gun (surely they can't forbid him from having a gun in his own home) and took it with him.
But his employers, the same people who own the Arlington complex where Bruley lives, reacted differently. They fired him.
Bruley said he was too shaken to call his supervisor immediately after the incident, which occurred just before 2 a.m., but planned to eventually do so.It wasn't like he was working at a bank and kept an uzi in his desk. He was at home. It was the middle of the night. He heard gunshots.
When he left his apartment armed, he had no indication a gun was in play at the scene.You know, aside from the SOUND OF GUNSHOTS.
Bruley said he found the woman bleeding heavily. He handed the shotgun to a neighbor, tied a tourniquet around her right leg and waited for police and rescue to arrive.He wasn't waving a gun around, and apparently somehow emergency services were summoned.
After emergency officials took Lee to the hospital, Bruley returned to his apartment and tried to settle down, eventually falling asleep. He said he could have called his supervisor but didn't think she could do anything at the time. He said he was called into the office about 9:30 a.m., gave his account and then left. He said he was called back that afternoon and told he was fired.So police and paramedics show up. They take her to the hospital. That's sorta like what happens when you call 911, isn't it? Remind me, what was it that he was fired for? Why should he think he needed to call 911 when the police and paramedics are already there? He gets home, says "Whoa, that was messed up!" and goes to sleep. It was probably 3 or 4 in the morning. He woke up and explained the event to his employers at 9:30 the next morning. Apparently he was supposed to know to wake up his bosses, who could do absolutely nothing about it, in the middle of the night.
An employer can not strip you of your rights.So, if we have a 1st amendment right to religion, my employer can't prevent me from exercising my religious freedom in my personal life- but he can strip me of my job for holding religious beliefs? Wait- no, that doesn't sound right. That sounds illegal, actually... so why would the 2nd amendment be similarly curtailed? In this case, he owned a gun, in his home. Can they any more strip that right than they could have a "No Christians" rental policy on their apartment units?
pyramid termite: he can strip you of your job, however
Benny Andajetz: The only thing stupider than zero tolerance policies are the pinheads that uncritically enforce them. ("I have no choice. The rules plainly say......")Right, that's exactly what puzzles me. Who are these people, and are they as emotionally broken as it seems? I can't imagine being so unimaginative that I wouldn't even think to simply ignore the rules when it was for the best.
quin: Much like it's not a violation of my First Amendment rights if I post confidential information about the company I work for, and they fire me. I have the right to speak, but they have a right to terminate me for violating their rules.Along with what ScdB said, isn't the clear distinction here that your employment included the contractual obligation to not reveal information pertaining to your work? I mean, they couldn't make you sign a document saying you wouldn't participate in the gay pride parade when it was a personal, private, non-work matter that had no bearing on your work? Clearly, there's a difference between "commercial speech that may be bound by a contract with civil repurcussions such as lawsuits or termination of employment/contract" and "the company gets to regulate EVERYTHING you ever say or do!"
"The story begins at approximately 2 a.m. on June 12, when Bruley awoke to screams in his apartment complex near Jacksonville. The 24-year-old, who worked and lives in the complex, was on medical leave at the time and recuperating in his apartment. When he heard a female voice shout, ‘I've been shot,’ he grabbed his shotgun and rushed to the scene in only his boxer shorts.posted by ericb at 12:29 PM on June 21, 2007 [2 favorites]
His neighbor, Tonnetta Lee, had been shot in the leg in a third-floor ‘breezeway.’ A former hospital attendant and nursing school student, Bruley began administering first aid. He located the exit wound at the back of her right leg and surmised (accurately, as it turns out) that the bullet had struck an artery. He then removed Lee's belt and used it as a tourniquet, applied pressure to the wound and kept her calm until an ambulance arrived some 15 minutes later. His actions, according to the victim's family, ‘saved her life, or at least her leg.’
Covered in blood and still shaking from the incident, Bruley stumbled back to his apartment and attempted to relax. ‘It felt like I was coming down after drinking seven shots of coffee,’ he told me. He showered, called an old friend in Detroit and tried to fall back asleep. He did not, however, immediately call his supervisor about the incident.
The next morning, at about 10:30, he was called into the leasing office and asked to file an incident report. The victim's sister, Erica Jenkins, was also there, and she thanked Bruley.
When he was called back to the office that afternoon, he said, he thought that his employer intended to give him a commendation. Instead, another manager, on the phone from Cincinnati, said she was ‘very disappointed’ in the way Bruley handled the situation. Bruley was then fired for ‘gross misconduct,’ he says.
According to a complaint he says his supervisor gave him, Bruley violated The Village Green Company's rules by failing to notify his supervisor immediately and by brandishing a weapon in the workplace.
…Yes, Bruley may have deviated from protocol -- but he did so in an emergency situation. He put the life of his neighbor -- who was also his client -- ahead of his own safety. Which raises the question: Isn't this the kind of person any company would want as an employee?"
Where are you?Upon reaching the woman and examining the wound, he noticed an extraordinarily large amount of blood between the door of her apartment and where she was. He told his neighbor 'it looks like a femoral artery wound.' He handed his gun to the retired Navy man and applied a tourniquet, which he tended until the police arrived.
Where are you shot?
Where is the shooter?
"Bruley said he is considering contacting a lawyer about his dismissal, but will first look for another job and possibly another home. He promises he won't shy away from aiding others in need."*posted by ericb at 12:56 PM on June 21, 2007
He's working in an at-will state, so they can give any kind of reason they like (or none at all) to fire him.Read that sentence again. We can disagree on the rightness or wrongness of his actions, whether or not his lawn was his workplace, about the definition of brandishing, whatever, but all that matters is this:
He's working in an at-will state, so they can give any kind of reason they like (or none at all) to fire him.He took a job in Florida. In Florida, your boss doesn't have to have a reason to fire you. He can fire you for coming to work drunk, or for sexually harrassing your coworkers, or maybe because he doesn't like that pink shirt you always wear on Tuesdays. He can fire you because he doesn't think you make good business decisions, or because your sales numbers aren't high enough this month, or because he hates it when you mispronounce his name. Makes it a bitch to work in Florida, sure, but he chose to take the transfer from Michigan (as is mentioned in the Washington Post blog). He could have been fired even if he lived off-site, and the incident had no connection whatsoever to the property.
Yes, he violated his employer's rules and must be punished. -- 2%posted by ericb at 2:34 PM on June 21, 2007
No. Even though he broke the rules, he tried to help and getting fired is too harsh. -- 13%
Not only should be keep his job, he should be commended for helping a neighbor. -- 85%
"'I had a lot of OJT dealing with emergency trauma situations,' Bruley said.BTW -- he had also been instrumental in breaking up a violent fight involving someone getting hit in the head with a baseball bat at the apartment complex three-months prior. I suspect he has had other experiences in dangerous and/or emergency situations and responded rationally in those, as he appears to have been trained to do.
And that training paid off. They did not know where the woman was. He called out questions to assess the situation:Where are you?Upon reaching the woman and examining the wound, he noticed an extraordinarily large amount of blood between the door of her apartment and where she was. He told his neighbor 'it looks like a femoral artery wound.' He handed his gun to the retired Navy man and applied a tourniquet, which he tended until the police arrived.
Where are you shot?
Where is the shooter?
Bruley said that by the time the police arrived ten minutes later, he was pretty much covered with blood.
...in the ten minutes it took for the police to get there, she probably would have bled to death. The doctors told her the tourniquet had definitely saved her leg, and probably her life."*
"Neighbor Kevin Courson joined Bruley at the crime scene when he saw Bruley had a gun for protection. Courson said he is incensed by the dismissal. 'Here was a guy trying to do a good deed. He wasn't trying to hurt nobody,' said Courson, 31. "*posted by ericb at 3:12 PM on June 21, 2007
"The company said Bruley's rent was delinquent and his May rent check had bounced, according to the company. They said Burley's lease was missing from the management office.But, doctors at the hospital have said his actions saved her leg and possibly her life.
The company also said that a police officer said Bruley's attempt at medical aid to the victim of the June 12 shooting at the apartments 'actually caused the victim more harm than good.'"*
"Bruley received confirmation of his diagnosis the next morning, when he received a visit from the victim’s sister. She told him her sister spent several hours in emergency surgery getting her femoral artery repaired.posted by ericb at 4:02 PM on June 21, 2007
She thanked Bruley for saving her sister’s life—because in the ten minutes it took for the police to get there, she probably would have bled to death. The doctors told her the tourniquet had definitely saved her leg, and probably her life."
"Times-Union reporter Jim Schoettler and Jacksonville.com's Tracy Collins discuss the massive attention received on Jim's coverage of a 24-year-old Jacksonville man who was fired after saving a woman's life."posted by ericb at 7:54 PM on June 21, 2007
"Jacksonville shooting victim Tonnetta Lee said she wonders what countless others from around the world are now asking: Why was her neighbor fired after coming to her rescue?posted by ericb at 8:53 AM on June 23, 2007
...Lee said she was bleeding heavily from a damaged artery when she left her apartment and sought help. Despite her knocks on a neighbor's door, no one answered and she collapsed nearby. The next thing she knew, Bruley was there.
'He said, "How's it going, Tonnetta?" and I said, "Not so good right now,"' Lee said. 'I was in shock.'
...Lee said she hopes Bruley will find a job soon. Meanwhile, she said she's so angry she no longer wants to live in the complex.
'I really do think he saved my life,' Lee said. 'He was helping a neighbor.'"
Shands JacksonvilleI doubt you'll get very far due to patient confidentialty, but maybe their Communication Office can help you (904-244-9750).
655 W. Eighth St.
Jacksonville, FL 32209
904-244-0411
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posted by metasonix at 10:56 AM on June 21, 2007