After initially terminating him for helping an attacked woman, Wal-Mart has offered to reinstate employee Kristopher Oswald the Christian Monitor reported.
"We realized his intentions were good, and we've contacted him to offer him his job back and welcome him back to the store," Ashley Hardie, Wal-Mart spokesman told the Christian Monitor. Sometimes we don't get everything right, and each circumstance is different."
Oswald was reportedly sitting in his car while on his break in his store's parking lot early Sunday morning when he observed a man tightly holding a woman.
He then asked her if she was in need of help, when the man began to punch him in the head while shouting that he was going to end his life according to the AP. Oswald then told the AP he managed to climb on top of the man until two men attacked him from behind.
Wal-Mart has polices that oppose violence in professional environments, which are meant to offset the possibility of employees from hurting each other on jumping on any shoplifters attempting to steal merchandise according to information from an interview Oswald gave to Detroit television station WXYZ-TV.
According to the AP, the guidelines do not help employees in other situations which require self-defense, and pose a threat to them.
"It would be difficult to see this defined within the realm of this policy," Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University told Christian Monitor. "All Wal-Mart can do is send out notices and do inspections and have meetings, but they are still very susceptible to embarrassing incidents which may not result from their policies but may be an interpretation of their policies. Wal-Mart is walking the fine line here, supporting [managers] who do things like this, but not encouraging them to do it at the same time."
