| directfiesta |
09-13-2007 01:50 PM |
Ft. Lauderdale Waiter Fired For Rescuing Carjacking Victim
amazingly ... stupid :Oh crap
Quote:
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (AHN) - A waiter in Fort Lauderdale, FL who ran out of the restaurant to rescue a woman being carjacked was fired when he came back to work on Monday. Juan Canales who many call a hero for his quick thinking is now left stunned by his unemployment status - however employers are coming to his aide with job offers, including his old boss at 84 Thai restaurant.
According to police reports 22-year-old Massiel Marquartdt was being attacked by a man wielding a knife outside the 84 Thai Food restaurant in the Southland Shopping Center on Monday.
Canales said he tackled the culprit, who police identified as Albert Means, and kept the man pinned until police arrived on the scene. Much to the dismay of his fellow coworkers and restaurant goers
Canales' boss promptly terminated him shortly after the rescue when he was done being questioned by police and reporters.
"He told me you're dismissed, you're fired," Canales said. "And I looked him and I said, 'Are you serious?' (He said) go get out of here, you're fired."
"Did he give you a specific reason why?" the reporter asked.
"No, he did not," Canales said.
The victim of the attack said she is clueless as to why her hero was fired.
"I couldn't believe that after he's done something so noble, they would actually go ahead and fire him," Marquartdt said.
According to reports the boss did not like the attention the rescue was bringing to the restaurant. One published report said the restaurant manager said Canales may have been a hero but he just wasn't that good of an employee.
However the flood of negative attention the move brought to the restaurant may have been a factor in Manager Sathaporn Yosagrai singing a different tune. "I feel sorry about all of this," Yosagrai said in a Sun-Sentinel report.
However, Canales has no plans to return to his former workplace, "He hurt me too much."
Thankfully once word spread about Canales quick thinking, heroic actions, and fast firing area business owners -- including two electrical companies and a roofing firm - contacted the father of three with offers.
"I'll jump on the best one," Canales said in a UPI article, who despite being "devastated" by his dismissal remained steadfast that he "would do it again because it was the right thing to do."
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