Life Guard, 21, fired after saving a drowning man.

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
alkemyst

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Hugo Drax said:
Why, he was paid to watch Section X which says Lifeguard in service.

Section Y says no lifeguard, swim at own risk.

If the policy where he works stipulates, do not leave section X, Zero tolerance policy, instant termination. Then he would not be fired if person drowns in Section Y if he stayed in section X which is what the contract stipulates.

The contract probably stipulates 1 Lifeguard per X meters, and if he left his section then during that period of time where people have an expectation of a lifeguard on duty per X sections of beach and someone drowns because it took too long for the other lifeguard to reach the victim in the "Protected zone, with expectation of lifeguard per X meters" then it is a HUGE lawsuit in the millions.



It is pretty cut and dry. Americans love to sue, this is what you get.
Click to expand...

lol?

You can bet that same company would have fired him should someone had drown in the unprotected section, if he indeed went on record to witnessing it.
 
Z

Zedtom

Platinum Member
Nov 23, 2001
2,146
0
0
If there is a life or death decision to be made and you are on duty for your employer, the first decision should be: Will this action put my employer at risk?

Imagine giving the Heimlich maneuver to your boss who's choking on a doughnut at a staff meeting and he dies.
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/fl-lifeguard-follow-20120704,0,2089012.story

UPDATE: The Hallandale Beach lifeguard who was fired earlier this week for leaving his zone to help rescue a nearby swimmer will get an offer to go back to work, his top boss said Thursday.

In a telephone interview early Thursday afternoon, Jeff Ellis, the head of Jeff Ellis Management, said lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired too quickly.

"I am of the opinion that the supervisors acted hastily, " Ellis said.



looks like he is going to be offered his job back.
 
dainthomas

dainthomas

Lifer
Dec 7, 2004
14,952
3,941
136
waggy said:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/fl-lifeguard-follow-20120704,0,2089012.story

UPDATE: The Hallandale Beach lifeguard who was fired earlier this week for leaving his zone to help rescue a nearby swimmer will get an offer to go back to work, his top boss said Thursday.

In a telephone interview early Thursday afternoon, Jeff Ellis, the head of Jeff Ellis Management, said lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired too quickly.

"I am of the opinion that the supervisors acted hastily, " Ellis said.



looks like he is going to be offered his job back.
Click to expand...

In news that surprises absolutely no one.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,908
31,439
146
SSSnail said:
Those say that he should not help the drowning victim because of ”liabilities”, go die in a fire. There's such thing as human compassion, may be you'll need it one of these days.

May be we should go back and be humans instead of litigious a-holes.
Click to expand...

OMG--this must be some new species of...human?

May I invite you to our research center so that we may study you fully in a controlled environment?

:hmm:
 
sixone

sixone

Lifer
May 3, 2004
25,030
5
61
waggy said:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/fl-lifeguard-follow-20120704,0,2089012.story

UPDATE: The Hallandale Beach lifeguard who was fired earlier this week for leaving his zone to help rescue a nearby swimmer will get an offer to go back to work, his top boss said Thursday.

In a telephone interview early Thursday afternoon, Jeff Ellis, the head of Jeff Ellis Management, said lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired too quickly.

"I am of the opinion that the supervisors acted hastily, " Ellis said.

looks like he is going to be offered his job back.
Click to expand...

Kudos to the company for making the right decision, belated though it might be.
 
sygyzy

sygyzy

Lifer
Oct 21, 2000
14,001
4
76
Obviously this guy did the right thing but let's step back for a minute and consider how much this really matters. He's 21 years old and he works as a lifeguard. That's a totally age-appropriate job. According to one article, they all make $8.25 an hour. It's like getting angry because some girl gave a customer extra packets of ketchup and got fired from McDonald's. (I know saving a life does not equal condiments but my point is it's a summer break job)

He''ll find another job. I applaud all his co-workers who resigned in protest but again - young adults making eight dollars an hour. We are not talking about surgeons quitting the ER because of a moral issue.
 
C

crownjules

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2005
4,858
0
76
This is the result of a litigious as all fuck society and a court system that enables it.
 
Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
sixone said:
I don't really care. Doing the right thing is doing the right thing, no matter what the feelings behind it are.
Click to expand...

Fair enough... but they only did the "right thing" because their company was getting negative PR, which would have damaged their money-making ability.
 
sixone

sixone

Lifer
May 3, 2004
25,030
5
61
Imp said:
Fair enough... but they only did the "right thing" because their company was getting negative PR, which would have damaged their money-making ability.
Click to expand...

Maybe so, and maybe no. I hope they and other companies have learned a critical lesson from this situation, and that it will serve as a warning to those who would put the company's well-being above a human life.
 
Fritzo

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
sygyzy said:
Obviously this guy did the right thing but let's step back for a minute and consider how much this really matters. He's 21 years old and he works as a lifeguard. That's a totally age-appropriate job. According to one article, they all make $8.25 an hour. It's like getting angry because some girl gave a customer extra packets of ketchup and got fired from McDonald's. (I know saving a life does not equal condiments but my point is it's a summer break job)

He''ll find another job. I applaud all his co-workers who resigned in protest but again - young adults making eight dollars an hour. We are not talking about surgeons quitting the ER because of a moral issue.
Click to expand...

That's a good way of looking at it. I think "breaking the rules to save a life" would look kick-ass on a resume too :)
 
SaDiZTiKStyLeZ

SaDiZTiKStyLeZ

Lifer
Apr 12, 2010
10,510
10
0
waggy said:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/fl-lifeguard-follow-20120704,0,2089012.story

UPDATE: The Hallandale Beach lifeguard who was fired earlier this week for leaving his zone to help rescue a nearby swimmer will get an offer to go back to work, his top boss said Thursday.

In a telephone interview early Thursday afternoon, Jeff Ellis, the head of Jeff Ellis Management, said lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired too quickly.

"I am of the opinion that the supervisors acted hastily, " Ellis said.



looks like he is going to be offered his job back.
Click to expand...
They might as well switch the roles & promote him to supervisor, & demote his supervisor to replace his position, while they are at it.
 
alkemyst

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
The city came down on Ellis' company.

The lifeguards do not want their jobs back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom