Thank you for contacting us and making us aware of your concerns regarding our SuperAmerica store located in Roseville, MN.
Confronting a potentially armed robber could have serious consequences for employees and customers. While it is regrettable this situation occurred, it is important that we have and enforce policies to ensure the safety of all our employees and customers during a potentially dangerous situation.

Please understand that personnel issues are very sensitive and strictly confidential. Be assured that appropriate management personnel have been made aware of your comments and concerns.

We appreciate your concern as well as your patronage, and hope that you will continue to be one of our valued customers.

Sincerely,

Speedway SuperAmerica
Customer Service

A typical corporate response.

Heaven forbid that people have a flexible policy that you can look at a situation on a case by case basis.

b4itsover on May 9, 2008 at 10:47 AM

Not sure they can look at every situation case-by-case, goodness knows how many thousands of people they employ. The lesson they need is to get out in front of potential PR disasters. If their legal eagles concluded that the termination must stand (for reasons we cannot be privy to), then they should have immediately created the “Mark Beverly Award for Heroism” and bestowed it on him with great fanfare in the press.

At least they are responding to the criticism. We all got the same form letter, but I for one would be pretty steamed if they had just ignored me.

I got the same reply from SA as everyone else.

Forwarded it to Bill O’Reilly

Go get em Bill!

“Speedway SuperAmerica LLC is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of our customers and the communities in which we operate.”

It is really nice to see your company’s commitment to the community, unfortunately that doesn’t hold true for it’s employees.

It is unconscionable to see how Mark Beverly was treated for his actions. It’s nice to see that saving a fellow employee from potential rape or murder is against company policy and worthy of dismissal.

Your company’s statement about never taking action is BS, it gives the criminals incentive to target your stores more in the future, thus placing store employees at greater risk and ensures that I WILL NEVER SHOP AT YOUR STORES EVER.

I received the same form email back like others. It’s apparent that they just don’t get it.

The policy of not resisting a robber and give them the cash is proper. It protects the employee from harm by not antagonizing the robber.

Individuals committing such acts are not thinking clearly. Giving them the cash or whatever they demand calmly prevents the robber from moving to the next phase, using stronger verbal abuse/threats to gain compliance, the third phase is the ultimate act to gain compliance physical violence.

His actions were not related to the act of robbery. He was obviously upholding the company’s Safety Policy. Federal law dictate employers are responsible for maintaining a safe environment for all employees. Therefore, this employee was compiling with the safety policy to protect a fellow employee and customers by removing a known hazard.

Thus the company is applying the wrong policy in terminating this employee and needs to have a training course to assure management understand the distinction between safety and security.

Thank you for contacting us and making us aware of your concerns regarding our SuperAmerica store located in Roseville, MN.

Confronting a potentially armed robber could have serious consequences for employees and customers. While it is regrettable this situation occurred, it is important that we have and enforce policies to ensure the safety of all our employees and customers during a potentially
dangerous situation.

Please understand that personnel issues are very sensitive and strictly confidential. Be assured that appropriate management personnel have been made aware of your comments and concerns.

We appreciate your concern as well as your patronage, and hope that you will continue to be one of our valued customers.

Sincerely,

Speedway SuperAmerica
Customer Service

Good Luck!

Write the company here

http://www.speedway.com/ContactUs/EmailUs.aspx

RushBaby on May 8, 2008 at 2:28 PM

Thanks, Rush, just left my message.

http://www.amazon.com/Nation-Cowards-Jeff-Snyder/dp/1888118083

As a long time customer of Superamerica and stockholder in Marathon Oil, I am very upset about the recent firing of Mark Beverly in the Twin Cities for rescuing a coworker from a vicious attack during a robbery.

If you do not rehire him, I’ll have to turn in my SpeedyRewards card, boycott your stations and sell my MRO stock.

And by the way, I really am a stockholder.

OUR SOCIETY has reached a pinnacle of
self-expression and respect for individuality rare or unmatched in
history. Our entire popular culture — from fashion magazines to the
cinema — positively screams the matchless worth of the individual,
and glories in eccentricity, nonconformity, independent judgment, and
self-determination. This enthusiasm is reflected in the prevalent
notion that helping someone entails increasing that person’s
“self-esteem”; that if a person properly values himself, he will
naturally be a happy, productive, and, in some inexplicable fashion,
responsible member of society.
And yet, while people are encouraged to revel in their individuality
and incalculable self-worth, the media and the law enforcement
establishment continually advise us that, when confronted with the
threat of lethal violence, we should not resist, but simply give the
attacker what he wants. If the crime under consideration is rape,
there is some notable waffling on this point, and the discussion
quickly moves to how the woman can change her behavior to minimize the
risk of rape, and the various ridiculous, non-lethal weapons she may
acceptably carry, such as whistles, keys, mace or, that weapon which
really sends shivers down a rapist’s spine, the portable cellular
phone.
Now how can this be? How can a person who values himself so highly
calmly accept the indignity of a criminal assault? How can one who
believes that the essence of his dignity lies in his self-determination
passively accept the forcible deprivation of that self-determination?
How can he, quietly, with great dignity and poise, simply hand over the
goods?
The assumption, of course, is that there is no inconsistency. The
advice not to resist a criminal assault and simply hand over the goods
is founded on the notion that one’s life is of incalculable value, and
that no amount of property is worth it. Put aside, for a moment, the
outrageousness of the suggestion that a criminal who proffers lethal
violence should be treated as if he has instituted a new social
contract: “I will not hurt or kill you if you give me what I want.”
For years, feminists have labored to educate people that rape is not
about sex, but about domination, degradation, and control. Evidently,
someone needs to inform the law enforcement establishment and the media
that kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, and assault are not about
property.
Crime is not only a complete disavowal of the social contract, but
also a commandeering of the victim’s person and liberty. If the
individual’s dignity lies in the fact that he is a moral agent engaging
in actions of his own will, in free exchange with others, then crime
always violates the victim’s dignity. It is, in fact, an act of
enslavement. Your wallet, your purse, or your car may not be worth
your life, but your dignity is; and if it is not worth fighting for, it
can hardly be said to exist.

Jeff Snyder, Nation of Cowards

Read the rest at http://www.rkba.org/comment/cowards.txt

http://www.superamerica.com/ContactUs/EmailUs.aspx

What the heck is wrong with companies today? Haven’t they ever heard of extenuating circumstances? Why the draconian enforcement of rules?

HYTEAndy on May 8, 2008 at 2:24 PM

Only draconian for the legal citizens. But they’ll hire illegals if they can get away with it.

It’s a sad day when you can’t protect yourself or those around you from physical violence. I could care less though what anyone’s stupid policies or laws are though, if I see someone hurting family, friends or neighbors, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it, screw the legal consequences.

TheCulturalist on May 8, 2008 at

Yeah,, lawyers,, you need them to protect yourself from other lawyers.

No wait, scratch that.

Baggage handler at Glasgow airport?

I’ve always advised young workers to take on challenges fearlessly and go full speed ahead as long as they could explain their actions proudly and the complainers couldn’t explain their problems with it to the boss.