Posted on 06/20/2007 6:50:13 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
Do you remember the ridiculous story we were talking about yesterday, about the apartment employee in Jacksonville? Well here is the link to the news article. Colin Bruley worked for an apartment complex in Jacksonville, FL. He also happened to live in the complex. At 2AM, he heard a woman scream. He grabbed his shotgun and went outside to help the woman. Not knowing where the shooter was ... whether the shooter might come out of an apartment door at any time with his gun .. Bruley and some other residents took care of the screaming woman they found covered in blood. Bruley hands the shot-gun to another neighbor who came, and proceeds to put a tourniquet on the woman's leg, perhaps preventing her from bleeding to death.
The next morning, the Oaks at Mill Creek apartment complex calls him in to find out what happened. A few hours later, they call him back in. Thank you? No. You are a brave man? No. "You're fired." According to the owner of the apartments, the Village Green Companies, he violated the rules in the employee handbook. Do you hear that? The handbook. "You saved a life? You put yourself in jeopardy to help another person? Are you sure that's covered in our employee handbook?" Well I never knew they made a handbook for these kinds of situations. And they fired the guy. He should have been given a medal, and instead he is given the boot.
Yet another example of the wussification of America. We tell people that we value wussification over bravery, appeasement over protection. Just ridiculous, folks. I'd rather my neighbor have a shot-gun any day of the week. Who gives a damn if he works for the apartments or not. Protection is protection.
Some would suggest that when an innocent person is being attacked by someone with a gun, you should try to mind your own business and not do anything. Colin Bruley thought differently. Colin, you did well my friend.
We heard the phrase "Following orders" throughout the trials after WWII. Most of those guys went to the gallows.
So should those who make policies such as those promulgated by VILLAGE GREEN APARTMENTS.
If you'd like to speak out for Colin, here's where to vent to his FORMER employer. May their comm systems go into terminal melt-down.
Corporate Offices
30833 Northwestern Hwy., Ste. 300
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
P: 248.851.9600
F: 248.851.6161
WEBSITE CONTACT URL:
http://www.villagegreen.com/mailform/index.cfm/fuseaction/generalContactForm/contentID/65/navID/65.htm
This isn’t about management’s view of the employee. Its about the insurance premiums, which would have gone sky high if they had not fired the guy.
I know it sucks. And I’d be glad to have this guy as my neighbor. But reality intrudes here. Its a business, and as such has to care a large insurance policy, one that dictates what the rules are in such matters.
Here’s hoping this man gets a better job as a direct result of this article. I’d hire him.
Bet it’s on advice of their Lawyer. By him going out there (with a weapon, no less) he was considered officially representing the company, and therefore putting company assets at risk if something went sour. The life of someone being in the balance made no difference.
If you want to blame someone, blame the Trial Lawyers Association.
If this citizen had been injured, or had injured someone else, then Village Green Apartments would be liable and could be bankrupted by opportunistic ambulance chasers.
Their employee handbook forbids this kind of heroism deliberately, in order to defend themselves from the John Edwards of the world.
And if they made and exception in this citizen's case, that would open them up to future liabilities.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Agreed.
Which is WHY we urgently need COMMON-SENSE TORT REFORM and juries who can grasp the essential and equally common-sense elements of the case. Short of ridding ourselves of the government schools (an excellent idea), I don’t know how we get such jury members.
It’s estimated that Japan has 10 or more ENGINEERS for every lawyer there. We, on the other hand, have 10 or more LAWYERS for every engineer.
Could this be why the Japanese have been kicking our teeth out in world trade for 40 years or more?
It was 2 O’Clock in the morning. Should he get fired for sleeping on the job as well?
The answer then is to not let employees crap (live) where they work. Make THAT the strict policy.
Rather than castrating them and saying “you can live here, if you agree to give up...”
I’ll bet his response would’ve been the same at another apartment complex where he was not employed.
Trial Lawyers Association
Can we say people like John Edwards?
The answer is he wasn’t ON the job and his actions did not reflect actions for his employer.
There are two Americas. Wealthy bottom feeding trial lawyers and everybody else.
Good one!
It’s estimated that Japan has 10 or more ENGINEERS for every lawyer there. We, on the other hand, have 10 or more LAWYERS for every engineer.Japan also doesn't have punitive damages either. The Japanese system is interesting. Instead they have an actuary compute potential lost wages. For example if you hit someone in your car you become liable for *all* the potential wages the person lost(assuming they get better). If the victim dies then you become liable for *all* of the wages they would have earned in their lifetime. Quite expensive.
Could this be why the Japanese have been kicking our teeth out in world trade for 40 years or more?
Exactly.
Ironically, of one goes to the main page of the Village Green web site, one finds a photo of eight apparent employes, reflecting, of course, an appropriate mix of persons of gender and color, with the caption “We Care”.
A lot of those kinds of jobs at apartment complexes are “on-call” and being available at any time, within a specified period of time. So, you work during certain hours and then are “on-call’ during all other hours, by contract. So, in that kind of emplyment contract, he would be representing the apartment at all times when he’s there on the premises.
It doesn’t work that way with certain apartment-type jobs...
You are right on a superficial level, but that remaining on that level in effect puts corporate survival above human life.
Management has said that they will trade lives for liability. They also may have assumed that any use of a firearm, even under extreme exigent circumstances like this attack, only ends with liability, I wonder what the shareholders would say?
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