PUBLISHED: 00:36 EST, 18 October 2013 | UPDATED: 00:59 EST, 18 October 2013
Kristopher Oswald says he was doing the right thing when he jumped to the aid of a woman being assaulted in the parking lot of the Michigan Walmart where he worked.
Walmart says he violated company policy and fired Mr Oswald the next day.
The 30-year-old stock clerk in Hartland, Michigan, was punched six times in the head by the woman’s furious boyfriend, but he says he never thought the incident would cost him his job.
Jobless: Kristopher Oswald says he never thought he’d be fired for coming to the aid of a woman in distress
‘I never expected all of this. And the least I expected was to not have a job,’ Mr Oswald told WXYZ-TV.
But Walmart says corporate rules demanded that Mr Oswald not intervene in that circumstance. Mr Oswald’s manager wrote he was fired ‘after a violation of company policy on his lunch break.’
‘We had to make a tough decision, one that e don’t take lightly, and he’s no longer with the company,’ company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie told the Associated Press.
Mr Oswald said he was in his car on his break from his job stocking shelves about 2.30am Sunday when he saw a man grabbing a young woman. It appeared that he was trying to stop her from leaving the parking lot, Mr Oswald said.
He said he asked her if she needed help and the man started punching him in the head and yelled that he was going to kill him. Mr Oswald said he was able to get on top of the man, but then two other men jumped him from behind.
The assault happened about 2.30am on Sunday in the parking lot while Mr Oswald was on his meal break
Livingston County sheriff’s deputies arrived and halted the fight.
The woman was not seriously hurt.
Police investigated, but could not track down the suspect.
Mr Oswald had worked for Walmart for about seven weeks and said he would not have been considered a permanent employee until after his 180-day probation.
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