An Oregon man who was fired from Home Depot last month claims he was terminated for attempting to break up a kidnapping outside of the store in a parking lot, KGW-TV reported.
Dillon Reagan, 32, was fired last month from Home Depot for allegedly violating the company's safety policy.
According to an account of the May 12 incident given to KGW, Reagan and another co-worker excused themselves from the store to call police about a domestic disturbance taking place outside of the store. At the police dispatcher's urging, the men followed a person on foot for three blocks until police arrived.
“I stepped outside and sure enough, there's this lady whose frantic and crying, ‘Somebody help me please! He's stealing my kid, he's kidnapping my child," Reagan told KGW.
When Reagan returned to the store, he was scolded by his superiors.
A month later, Reagan was fired from the job, and once again chided by management for getting involved in the parking lot incident. Reagan told KGW that it was a second offense, and that he was cited for arguing with a coworker.
When KGW's story first aired, Home Depot said it was a 'complex situation.' Later in the week, Home Depot reversed its previous decision.
“We took a second look at this and have let Mr. Reagan know that we’ve decided to reverse our decision, based on the circumstances," Home Depot said in a statement to KGW. "We always do our diligence to make sure associates are treated fairly, which we’ve done in this case.”
But the decision came a bit too late for Reagan, who decided not to return to the store.
“We should be doing the right thing regardless of what company policy is, regardless of what the consequence is,” said Reagan. “What's good and what's right, supersedes what's policy and what's orders. Hands down.”
To read KGW's full report, click here.
