Walmart Associate Handbook 2017 2018
Apr 19, 2018 - Updated on: April 19, 2018 / 4:15 PM / MoneyWatch. According to Bloomberg, Walmart also revised its dress code in 2015 when it exempted.
Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the U.S., and has 2.2 million employees around the world.
But at least a handful of those workers say they've lost their jobs for insane reasons.
One employee claimed she was let go for saving a puppy, while another tried to fight back against the Black Friday masses and lost her job.
Other employees were supposedly axed for less noble pursuits.
For throwing around iPads and posting a video of it online.
Walmart fired employees at a Kentucky store who posted a video of themselves throwing and dropping boxes containing iPads in the storeroom, according to NBC News.
'Hope nobody buys that,' one said.
Walmart said it was embarrassed at the behavior, telling NBC News, 'It made us wince.'
For stopping an armed robber.
Walmart supposedly fired four employees who managed to disarm a robber at a Utah store, according to the Consumerist.
The thief was allegedly trying to steal a netbook, and when the employees confronted him, he pulled out a handgun.
Walmart policy states that employees are required to 'disengage' and 'withdraw' if a customer presents a weapon.
For praying with a crying customer.
National anthem video youtube. A pharmacist sued Walmart for religious discrimination, claiming she was canned for praying with a customer (and getting caught on camera).
Ecm titanium windows 10. The video supposedly showed the pharmacist touching the hand of the customer, who was crying, according to ABC News.
The employee said she was merely helping a patient, not praying. But she did not dispute that she prayed 'with customers when requested to do so,' ABC reported.
For defending herself on Black Friday.
A 22-year veteran Walmart greeter says she was dismissed after a Black Friday fight in the store.
The greeter claimed a woman shoved her in the aisle. Either to keep balance or defend herself, she grabbed the woman's sweater, she told the Tampa Bay Times.
'Walmart was like my home,' she told the Tampa Bay Times. 'Like my family.'
For saving a puppy, though Walmart denies this report.
The company denied the report, but an Examiner story claimed that an employee was reprimanded by a supervisor after trying to help a 'scared and hungry and cold' dog that wandered into the store in Oregon.
The manager supposedly told the employee to put the puppy back outside after she tried to call a rescue group and told her to 'get out.'
For using medical marijuana.
A Michigan employee says he was let go after using medical marijuana for pain he was feeling from an inoperable brain tumor, according to NBC News.
The employee had a prescription for marijuana and said he never went to work high or used it during work, according to NBC News.
The employee was drug tested after suffering a knee injury on the job. Walmart told NBC News that the situation 'unfortunate.'
For ranting on social media.
A 60-year-old greeter claimed he was fired in Virginia after posting a potentially offensive Facebook status.
The status read: 'Better health care means that disabled and chronically ill people live longer.' … Reader's Digest … But is that a good thing?,' according to local news site WDBJ7.
The greeter was allegedly let go after a woman complained to Walmart about the post, WDBJ7 reported.
For talking with employees after hours.
One Walmart supervisor was shown the door in 2011 for 'off-the-clock work,' which isn't allowed at the superstore chain.
During an investigation into allegations the supervisor made that employees were biased against her, she called an employee after hours and chatted for 90 minutes— in part, to talk about work. AOL Jobs reported.
Walmart said the employee had to be paid for the off-the-clock time and fired the supervisor for not following company regulations.
For stopping a shoplifter.
A customer service manager was terminated in Kansas for confronting a man she saw attempting to steal a computer, according to The Wichita Eagle.
The manager asked to see the man's receipt after he set off an alarm. The man punched and kicked her before ditching the computer, The Eagle reported.
The next day, the manager let go. The company said only asset protection employees are allowed to stop potential shoplifters.
For abusing a Muslim co-worker.
A South Carolina employee was let go after calling a Muslim co-worker a derogatory name, grabbing her arm and threatening to cut her throat, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The employee was fired after the co-worker reported the incident to a manager.
For taking four sick days in six months.
A former journalist who worked at Walmart for a year sent Gawker an angry letter, claiming she was fired from the store.
She said she was canned for taking four sick days in six months, but she seemed happy to never have to work there again.
'I just couldn't waste one more second of my life in that soulless corporate hellhole,' she wrote. 'There's only one way to go from now on and that's up.'
For eating Oreos.
A 63-year-old employee in Indiana was terminated after being caught eating Oreos in a store aisle, ABC News reported.
Walmart Associates Handbook 2017 2018
Management discovered the crime on tape after finding an empty Oreo wrapper in the store aisle and looking through security footage.
She was arrested for felony theft, and told an investigator she didn't have the funds to buy the cookies herself, according to ABC News.
For pretending to be a reporter.
A Walmart public relations representative was let go after she posed as a college journalism student.
The incident took place during a labor union event that was aimed at helping Walmart workers organize, according to the Huffington Post.
She used a fake name to sign in and interview employees. Walmart fired her and said they didn't approve of her tactics.