Big-Hearted Atlantan FIRED for rescuing two dogs from a hot car

[Modem Butterfly]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/0805/26dogsaver.html

What's known for sure is that a longtime Neiman Marcus employee climbed onto the hood of a pricey car to assist two poodles left inside as temperatures outside hovered around 90 degrees.

Valerie Cheatham, 46, was fired two days after the incident, which was captured by Lenox Square cameras.

SNIP


Cheatham said Ramona Lindsey screamed for her to get off the "$80,000 car." According to Cheatham, Lindsey also said: "I hope you're somebody because I'm going to have your job."

SNIP

Susan Feingold, head of the Southern Hope Humane Society, which operates Fulton County Animal Control, said conditions like those described in the Aug. 2 incident would have been "very dangerous" for dogs. "Even if the sunroof is down and the windows cracked, the interior would be very hot within five minutes," Feingold said. "It can be fatal."


Unbe-fucking-lievable. I'm an HR manager in Atlanta, if I can find this lady I will try to find something for her.

[zbdent]

1. Tie her up and leave her in a car

with the windows and sunroof closed out in the middle of the hot day . . . see how she likes it . . .

[Not Me]

2. Some people are just such asses

I would have loved to have had a tete-a-tete with that beeeeatch.

[Qanisqineq]

3. good grief

doesn't the owner of the car and dogs know that the temperature can be deadly within minutes? I can't sit in my car for 10 minutes on a hot day. Someone needs to teach him/her about the sun's rays going into the car but not be able to bounce back out. For a much better explanation than mine:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/global-warming2.htm
"You've probably noticed that your car is always much hotter inside than the outside temperature if it's been sitting there for a while. The sun's rays enter through your car's windows. Some of the heat from the sun is absorbed by the seats, the dashboard and the carpeting and floor mats. When those objects release this heat, it doesn't all get out through the windows. Some is reflected back in -- the heat radiated by the seats is a different wavelength than the light of the sun that made it through the windows in the first place. So a certain amount of energy is going in, and less energy is going out. The result is a gradual increase in the temperature inside your car."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/08/BAGHJDKM691.DTL

[hobbit709]

4. If that "woman" had screamed

at my wife like that, she wouldn't be able to scream for a while with a mouthful of busted teeth. She's as peaceful as can be unless she sees animals being abused/harmed-then she goes off.

[Barad Simith]

5. Since we're not allowed to post personal information at DU...

...I can only say that Googling the name of the owner of the $80,000 car, along with the city in which this occurred, reveals that the woman is employed in an occupation which dictates that she should know the dangerous position she put her dog in.

[txindy]

20. I have to think she must not be very good at what she does

Sounds like she's against medical care, to me. :eyes:

[RebelOne]

6. The local Atlanta animal rescue and animal rights groups

are on this story. Something will be done.

[Hobarticus]

7. Please, help her out...good sams are too few and far between, anymore

Especially when it comes to those who can't help themselves.

[DanCa]

8. Why batman wears a mask so he wont get sued

Good luck searching a job for her. Give her a :hug: no one said doing the right thing is easy.

[newportdadde]

9. I love how someone who drives an 80k car takes time to get someone fired.

Will take the time out of their lives to get someone fired who is probably lucky to afford 15k car and was trying to keep their dogs from dying. Did she even damage the fucking car... and 80k.. what a god damn joke of waste.

[Brewman_Jax]

10. That is so unfair

No good deed goes unpunished appears to hold true. :(

That's very kind of you, I hope that you can help her out.

[Modem Butterfly]

22. I've shot an e-mail to the AJC asking them to forward my contact info

I've also e-mailed the Southern Hope Rescue group mentioned in the article (we adopted our Shar-Pei from them a couple of years ago). It's not often you can do something concrete in a case like this. I'll keep you all posted.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. I bet you could find that Good Samaritan by dropping in at that

Nieman Marcus store and striking up a casual conversation with one of the sales people.

I hope you can do something for her. :thumbsup:

[MadHound]

12. Good for this woman,

And I hope that she gets justice from Neiman Marcus. Perhaps a lawsuit is in order, or at least lots and lots of bad publicity. Some people are just mindless assholes, wasting air.

This woman better never hope that I see her leaving her dogs anywhere, I won't bring a bottle of water, I'll bring a fire hose:evilgrin:

[Mend]

13. I would boycott Neiman-Marcus but

I wouldn't shop there anyway, so I am not sure this counts.

[Blue Diadem]

14. So Neiman Marcus fires good people who assist helpless dogs

There are 3 victims in this..the employee and those two poodles.

Modem Butterfly..I hope you can assist that lady with a job. She should be rewarded for her efforts, too bad Neiman Marcus didn't realize that.

[etherealtruth]

25. No, no , no ...

She wasn't fired because she's a good person who assists helpless animals; would she have been fired if she had rescued an animal from a Ford Taurus?

This "glorified secretary" (read: person of little value) was fired because she dared to confront the driver of an $80,000 car (read: person of significant value)

[SiouxJ]

15. Fire an intelligent person with a heart

Dumb move. I'd hire her in a a heartbeat.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. I'm Wondering What The Store's Rationale Would Be

What would be the reason for firing someone for saving a dog? Even if the car was somehow damaged, (broken window or something), the insurance firms and civil courts would sort that out.

I'm baffled as to what this has to do with the job performance of a long time employee. The negative PR will be far worse than the stupid store just paying to repair that lady's car.
The Professor

[pitohui]

17. risk management?

i'm not sure either

my best guess is the insurance liability

i doubt the insurance co. would want the store to continue this woman's employment after she stepped on a $80K automobile, no matter how good the rationale

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Insurance Premium v. Bad PR?

Whoever is making these analyses would be the one that needs to be fired? They're stupid.
The Professor

[Mutley]

21. Nothing is more important than keeping the customer.

I've worked in retail for several years and to the corporate people, nothing is more important than keeping the customer and the customer's money.

At my store I once observed a man grab his young son's hair and yank his head back, hard, because the son was begging for a toy. I went to my manager and asked if we could make the man leave. Her reply was, "Then we will lose the $100+ he will spend here today - not to mention all the money he and his friends and family will be spending here in the future." So, the almighty dollar meant more than trying to help a child.

[Strawman]

19. "I hope you're somebody because I'm going to have your job."

"Cheatham said Ramona Lindsey screamed for her to get off the '$80,000 car.'"

Can't wait for the day when we bring back the guillotine for these rich assholes.

[LostinVA]

23. "Glorified secretary"????

That shows you right there what jerks the NM people are.... firstly, secretaries work their asses off (thank Goddess for ours!), and secondly, the HR person was using this as a put down.

Like I BET the fact that the dogs' owner is "somebody" didn't factor into the firing...

I've worked as a retail manager before,a nd this woman wasn't representing the store in ANY way, and was in a public parking lot... so how could she be fired?

[Algorem]

24. Snobsville.