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I'd LOVE to know what the customer was SAYING to the employee. Having worked retail, and especially in my time working at the Service Desk handling returns the amount of abuse I took from customers for various reasons — trying to get me to go against our rules for exchange or return which would've lost me my job — was outrageous... By the time the customer asks for a manager, the employee has usually been subjected to a fair amount of abuse by the customer.

I'm not saying asking for a manager is the wrong thing to do — that's what managers are for, and they are the ones who CAN override (in some cases) stated store policies.

I won't say that this man is a hero - violence isn't a good thing — HOWEVER, my mind may be changed if there was information about what the CUSTOMER'S actions were...

I've seen a LOT - from customers trying to return a VCR in which the box was filled with a BRICK (and they had the nerve to ask me WHY I was opening the box they had re-taped), to customers trying to return stolen items, to customers demanding cash back without a receipt, etc... etc... to just plain customers who you could TELL had mental problems and decided to take out their frustrations on a “lowly” employee, etc... etc...

On the other hand, I've had customers treat me with respect, who understand store policies, understand my position, and have asked to speak to a manager, and some cases where I've suggested we CALL a manager over because I couldn't satisfy their needs due to the rules I had to follow in my position as a Service Desk/Supervisor.

Sorry the post is so long — as others have said, there is WAY too much information in this story to even attempt to judge whether his actions were in anyway justified. [There is a little thing called “fighting words” that would justify his action.]

I just hope he has a good jury, and good judge that will judge this case fairly (and a good lawyer on his side).

There's a phrase people in retail (and those not in retail) are familiar with, “The Customer is ALWAYS right”. Sorry to say that it's NOT TRUE. Although many managers and stores will bend over backwards to accommodate the occasional customer and bend corporate rules for example, there are some customers whose demands are totally unrealistic.

Heck, I even had a customer once who when realizing our manager was Hispanic as he was tried to pull the "C'mon hermano, we Latinos need to stick together, can't you give me a break here?" Needless to say my manager said, NO, and the fact that you and I are both Hispanic has NO place in this conversation. The customer left angry, and my manager expressed his anger at folks who would attempt to use 'race' in that way... I can DEFINITELY see situations where this employees actions may indeed have been justified to some extent.