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Good Samaritan

Meijer didn’t necessarily need to cite company policy in response to terminating an at-will employee. Other than for public relations reasons, Bowers’ firing could have been entirely arbitrary, as long as Meijer didn’t fire him for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons.

Bowers might have had a case against Meijer if it was somehow illegal to keep him at his post instead of helping douse the flaming car. However, except for in special circumstances, there is no legal obligation to help someone in need, even if that someone is literally going up in flames.

There are laws called “Good Samaritan” laws, but those laws act to shield Good Samaritans from being sued by the people they save. These laws do not make it a crime not to help a person in need, nor do they protect Good Samaritans like Bowers from being fired.

Maybe this problem with terminating employees for acting on conscience is deeper rooted than Bowers’ case. Another Michiganian was fired in October for helping an assault victim in the parking lot of the Walmart where he worked, reports USA Today.

Although the negative media coverage of his story may have forced Walmart to quickly offer that Good Samaritan his job back, it does indicate how little moral action plays into employment decisions.

- Yes, You Can Get Fired for Being a Good Samaritan, FindLaw.com, December 17, 2013.

3. Then it happened to me.

At the end of a trip home to see my parents, I let my then-4-year-old son wait by himself in a car while I ran into a store. He needed headphones to watch a video on our flight home. Someone filmed me leaving him, going into the store, coming out, and driving off, and promptly called the police. Ultimately I was charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor – a charge most people associate with buying beer for underage teenagers – and, with the aid of lawyers I was only able to afford through family generosity, arranged to perform 100 hours of community service and take parenting lessons. In return, the county prosecutor decided not to pursue the matter any further.