"I'm not going to die at Arby's tonight. I'm just not."

[aGameOfThrones]

Quick! You're being robbed at knifepoint. What's the first thing you do? For most of us, unless we're actually put in that situation or have some prior training in how to escape unharmed, it's hard to know how we would react.

An Arby's employee named Maria Archer is grateful to have escaped last Friday, when a man attempted to rob the restaurant where she worked. Archer, who was an assistant manager, said she was doing the closing duties at around 1 a.m. when she heard the doorbell ring. She assumed it was her co-worker who had just left and went to answer the door. To her surprise, it was a man with a knife, who tried to push her into a corner. Archer's instincts kicked in, and somehow she was able to push the man away and give herself enough time to escape through the drive-through window. She recalled thinking, "I'm not going to die at Arby's tonight. I'm just not."

Here's where things get interesting. When Archer returned to work, she was fired.

A vice president of human resources in Arby's corporate office told a WHIO-TV reporter that he felt badly for Archer but that she knowingly violated the company's safety and security policy, and she had been warned before.

This is the third time that this Fairborn, Ohio, Arby's location has been robbed in a six-month period. Archer said that while she was working there, no alarm or security cameras were ever installed to help protect from future intrusions. So far, the suspect has not been apprehended.

Archer said that she does not want her job back, even though January would have marked her 23rd year with the company. She's thankful to have escaped with her life.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/arby-manager-fired-escaping-armed-robbery-170812916.html

 

[RickyJ]

I'm not eating at Arby's again until they hire this woman back, give her a pay raise, install appropriate security equipment, and apologize for being an ass to her!

 

[Keith and stuff]

If the company installed an alarm or video camera, she may have incorrectly used them, also. She let the robber in the Arby's because she was too lazy to see who was trying to get in. She did this knowing that the store is in an extremely dangerous area and had been robbed 2 other times within 6 months. With her working at that location, it made sense not to install additional security measures.

 

[Origanalist]

With her working at that location, it made sense not to install additional security measures.

??

 

[fr33]

This has lowered my opinion of Arbys.

 

[Keith and stuff]

??

She let the robber in the store. She had previously done something similar and was warned to not do it again. She didn't care and was too lazy to follow the policy of not letting robbers in the store.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

She let the robber in the store. She had previously done something similar and was warned to not do it again. She didn't care and was to lazy to follow the policy of not letting robbers in the store.

Actually, Keith has a solid point here. If the manager had followed the security protocols, apparently the very ones she's been disciplined twice for previously, the robber would never have gained access to the store in the first place to have put her in danger.

I admit that when I first read this, I had the same emotional gut reaction as fr33 and Ricky, but Keith is right. She was only endangered in the first place because she let the robber in. If they have corrected her on this twice before and she didn't correct her behavior, then letting her go could have been in the best interest of her own safety for refusing to follow the back door protocols.

Who knows, the next time the robber may have had a gun, and may not have cared to let her go free. Arby's firing her here may well have saved her life.

Keith, you changed my mind on this, and I believe you are right.

Still, not having appropriate video and security apparatus is pretty stupid, but that particular decision would not be Arby's corporate, but the Regional Franchise Manager.

 

[Origanalist]

She let the robber in the store. She had previously done something similar and was warned to not do it again. She didn't care and was to lazy to follow the policy of not letting robbers in the store.

Sorry, missed that. Should have read further.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Sorry, missed that. Should have read further.

It was mentioned in the video. If someone just read the story, it might not be picked up. I guess Gunny and others do have a point. Maybe there should have been a camera aimed at the door if the person inside the store wasn't able to see who was on the other side of the door. I don't know how this store worked. There might have been a window or peep hole that she could have looked through.

 

[RickyJ]

It was mentioned in the video. If someone just read the story, it might not be picked up. I guess Gunny and others do have a point. Maybe there should have been a camera aimed at the door if the person inside the store wasn't able to see who was on the other side of the door. I don't know how this store worked. There might have been a window or peep hole that she could have looked through.

Actually no, it was not in the video. It did not say she let a robber in before. It said she was fired for her SECOND, her second violation in 23 years of employment of being alone in the restaurant.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

It was mentioned in the video. If someone just read the story, it might not be picked up. I guess Gunny and others do have a point. Maybe there should have been a camera aimed at the door if the person inside the store wasn't able to see who was on the other side of the door. I don't know how this store worked. There might have been a window or peep hole that she could have looked through.

I have installed uncountable computer, network, point of sale, cabling, and camera systems in fast food restaurants...more than I can count...and doing that kind of work you go in and out the back door all the time. Literally thousands of fast food mid range and fine dining restaurants, and I have never once seen a back door without a peep hole or a window with a drop down metal trap.

 

[RickyJ]

She let the robber in the store. She had previously done something similar and was warned to not do it again. She didn't care and was too lazy to follow the policy of not letting robbers in the store.

She didn't do that before. She was fired for being alone in the restaurant twice, not for letting a robber in the store before.

Obviously you are too lazy to get the facts right about this event!

 

[GunnyFreedom]

Actually no, it was not in the video. It did not say she let a robber in before. It said she was fired for her SECOND, her second violation in 23 years of employment of being alone in the restaurant.

Being alone in the restaurant is also a policy violation, actually.

And my experience with corps like CKE, BK, Wendy's, Darden, etc, is that write-ups may stay in the record, but they are generally only considered for repeat offenses within 12 month unless it is a much broader pattern.

 

[fr33]

I have installed uncountable computer, network, point of sale, cabling, and camera systems in fast food restaurants...more than I can count...and doing that kind of work you go in and out the back door all the time. Literally thousands of fast food mid range and fine dining restaurants, and I have never once seen a back door without a peep hole or a window with a drop down metal trap.

While I might admit that you might be right that she did not follow protocol, when I was a teenager I worked at a fast food place that did not have a camera, peep hole, or window on the back door. The back door was to the dumpsters which was fenced off but usually unlocked. I rose to manager at that place then requested to go back to cooking (because customer service sucks). It wasn't Arby's but we weren't taught the protocols or such a thing didn't exist.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

While I might admit that you might be right that she did not follow protocol, when I was a teenager I worked at a fast food place that did not have a camera, peep hole, or window on the back door. The back door was to the dumpsters which was fenced off but usually unlocked. I rose to manager at that place then requested to go back to cooking (because customer service sucks). It wasn't Arby's but we weren't taught the protocols or such a thing didn't exist.

I did point of sale and cabling for monster nationwide chains. Such chains universally have very detailed policies, and specifications for store configurations. Much smaller chains are another story. I never did computer work for anything smaller than Red Lobster, Applebees, Wendy's, Hardees, things like that.

 

[Keith and stuff]

Actually no, it was not in the video. It did not say she let a robber in before. It said she was fired for her SECOND, her second violation in 23 years of employment of being alone in the restaurant.

At 51 seconds into the video, it explains that she let the robber in the store. We don't know how close the 2 violations were. They may have been within 2 months. I'm not saying Arby's is amazing or praising it. I almost never eat out. However, this local decision in a state I rarely visit will not change my eating habits.

I have installed uncountable computer, network, point of sale, cabling, and camera systems in fast food restaurants...more than I can count...and doing that kind of work you go in and out the back door all the time. Literally thousands of fast food mid range and fine dining restaurants, and I have never once seen a back door without a peep hole or a window with a drop down metal trap.

I agree that you might be correct. I don't know which door is in question. Is it a front, side or back door? My guess is that it might be the back door but I don't know for sure.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

I agree that you might be correct. I don't know which door is in question. Is it a front, side or back door? My guess is that it might be the back door but I don't know for sure.

Had to be the back door. Any other door and she would have known from 20 foot away that it was not the employee who had just left.

 

[acptulsa]

She has a coworker outside in a bad neighborhood and she's going to ask for a password before she lets that person in?

And Arby's are generally franchise operations. So, protocols will vary widely from one Arby's to another.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

She has a coworker outside in a bad neighborhood and she's going to ask for a password before she lets that person in?

Not really, an employee or a service technician entering after hours is required to enter by the front or side door where they are clearly visible. I know that is made abundantly clear (with big, red all-caps lettering) on work orders, and I know from having once dated a Restaurant Manager for a Hardee's that it is made similarly clear in training.

And Arby's are generally franchise operations. So, protocols will vary widely from one Arby's to another.

Not in this case, however. The Human Resources division responsible was listed in the story as Arby's Corporate. Were this a minor franchise, the HR department would have been the local franchisee.

 

[Aurave]

Isn't it all kind of irrelevant? Why can't Arby's fire this woman for whatever damn reason they please? She can certainly quit whenever and for whatever reason she wants.