Iowa Senator to Stop Buying Pizza Hut if It Fires Delivery Man Who Shot Robber

J

jimpeel

New member
Good for this Senator. We need more like him in every state.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344608,00.html

Iowa Senator to Stop Buying Pizza Hut if It Fires Delivery Man Who Shot Robber
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

An Iowa state senator has vowed to stop buying Pizza Hut products if the chain fires a Des Moines delivery man who shot a teen who tried to rob him last week.

Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, told other lawmakers that he supports the delivery man, James William Spiers, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.

"I think what he did was the right thing," Zaun said Tuesday. "If I was in a situation to protect my family, protect myself, to continue being a father, I would’ve done the same thing."

The chain has suspended Spiers pending an investigation, the Register reports.

"We have policy against carrying weapons," Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut's corporate offices in Dallas told the paper for a March 28 story. "We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody."

But Zaun thinks Spiers, who had a permit to carry the concealed weapon, was well within his rights when he fired the shots March 27, so Zaun is "going to be watching Pizza Hut."

Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, who was hit with three bullets, called 911 for medical help and subsequently was arrested on a charge of first-degree robbery.

Click here for more from the Des Moines Register.
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Pizza Hut should fire the guy, he broke the rules. The State Senator is entitled to stop eating the overbaked pasty and bland concoctions, but shows an astonishing lack of respect for liberty.

WildtheirpizzasucksanywayAlaska TM
 
"We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody."
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Translation: Payments by the employee's life insurance company are much safer for Pizza Hut than being sued over our employee's actions.
 
Gotta agree with Wild on this one....fire him....

Then, he can get a better job elsewhere that may actually support his right to protecting himself anyway...
 
I also support firing this man.
He broke company policy.
This case is about private agreements between and employer and employee.

If you are going to accept employment from a company, you have to be willing to the requirements they have for the job. If you don't like the requirements, you need to work for someone else.
 
No one is saying they can't fire him, the Sen. is saying that he choses to support the RKBA and that man's right to defend himself by taking his business to a place that does not have such a stupid anti-gun policy. I swear some people on here must work for Brady except that a few of them have FFLs.:eek:
 
On a moral level, the Pizza Hut policy is junk and we all (at this forum, anyway) know it. On a legel level, they're well within their rights to fire the guy (at-will employment). However, I don't see how the senator's moral stand warrants a bunch of "well, legally..." responses. I mean, it's not like he's moving to fine Pizza Hut or anything; all he's doing is vowing to stop patronizing them because he disagrees with their policy (and, as a logical extension, doesn't want to see it enforced).

However, on a personal level, I support the driver's being fired. He can get a much better job than delivering pizza. :cool:

The cheat-sheet version of my post, by the way, is: "Ditto Blackwater OPS, because he posted just before I did." :D
 
I swear some people on here must work for Brady except that a few of them have FFLs.
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So recognizing a Constituional right is working for Brady?:rolleyes:

My bad, I forgot, the only rule that counts is guns and the hell with everything else. Thats because some folks on here view guns as an extensions......

Never mind:p

WildandthepizzastillsucksandthesenatoraintgivingupmuchbynotbuyingitAlaska TM
 
I agree it's not a legal issue. PH can fire him. Senator can quit buying pizza from them and encourage others to do so as well.

If I were living in Iowa I might join the senator ... if I see a real movement against Pizza Hut (I don't expect it) I may join them even from Colorado, though the 1 pizza order a month or so from my house probably won't have much impact.

But if we all refused to buy from Pizza Hut until they allowed their delivery guys to carry protection ... that just might have an impact.

Anyone want to start that movement?
 
Several posters say fire him, he'll be able to get a better job.
Sometimes it aint so easy to just get another job. Did you think that this may the only thing keeping bread on the table while he is looking for better employment.
Please dont slam him until you have walked a mile in his sneakers.

Pizza guys, what was the weekly income while you were doing this job?
 
Then, he can get a better job elsewhere that may actually support his right to protecting himself anyway...
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Good luck on that one. I think, at least from personal experience, about 5% of the non-self-employed workforce have that opportunity. Banning carry/possession in the workplace is pretty much the default.

Only way it will change is through legislation or consumer influence. Seems like this lawmaker is choosing what most here would consider to be the right choice.

WildandthepizzastillsucksandthesenatoraintgivingupmuchbynotbuyingitAlaska
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Though this also most definitely applies. ;)
 
The employer reserves a right to terminate an employee if the employee disregards the employer's stated policies, but it is only their right, not requirement. The policy can change, or an exception can be made if an employer chooses not to exercise their right. We who'd support the man's actions (independent of employer policy) also retain a right of free speech to leverage public relations and encourage a company to change their policies. Or better yet, spur the legislature to address the issue. The whole requirement that pizza guys and cabbies be required to serve unprofitable neighborhoods where their lives are at risk flies in the face of American market principles.
 
If something is morally wrong, like firing a worker who defends himself, then what they're doing is wrong. Period. That's like saying we'll fire you if you defend yourself at all. Hold the criminal, not the employee, accountable for the crime and subsequent actions. Give the honest guy the break. Completely put the onus on the robber. Don't support any person, government or business that fails to support fighting crime. I don't live in Iowa but I live in the nearby state of Illinois. I won't be buying any more Pizza Hut products in my area and I buy a LOT more than 1 pizza a month. I WILL be telling them about it too.
 
If the employer's policies clearly state that you have a duty not to defend yourself from harm, and that you also have a duty to allow yourself to be killed, then you need to work for some other entity.

These businesses will get the message only when they start feeling the pain in their wallets ... not before.
 
I worked a Dominos for awhile

The official policy was no firearms, a guy I worked with shot two armed robbers minutes after work.:cool:
Once a girl driver (18, or so, really) was chafing about going to a bad neighborhood and I volunteered, The boss took it (the delivery) mumbling "we don't need another driver shooting someone".
The pay was really lousy.
To me, the Senators position is admirable, if you fire the guy, expect negative publicity.
Other then working as an armed security guard I have not found any job that allows concealed carry, I do not own a gun shop.
My current boss says no carry too, if I get caught I'll go find another job.
I hardly find starving to be morally superior to an adherence to poorly thought out concealed carry policy, If they cant see it , tough, it aint there then, is it.
 
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Pizza Hut should fire the guy, he broke the rules. The State Senator is entitled to stop eating the overbaked pasty and bland concoctions, but shows an astonishing lack of respect for liberty.
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Way off the mark and completely missing the nuances of what the senator is saying.

The senator has not said they "can't" or "shouldn't be allowed" to fire the shooter. He is simply saying that if PH makes the decision to do so he will make the decision to not patronize them. He hasn't said he will pass a law overriding their right to set the terms of employment.

The guy broke the rule but the rule is stupid. Principal of Competing Harms. Would obeying the rule do more harm than ignoring it? In this case if obeying it gets you killed it certainly does. I delivered pizza in college and I legally carried a gun. It was a stupid job to take and with hindsight I realize that. At the same time it would have been insane to do it without a gun (and 6 cell maglite, and OC) as more than one LEO in town told me. I was with a mom and pop place where the owner kept a BHP under the register so it wasn't a work problem. If I was with a chain with a rule though they could take a flying leap if they think I was going to obey it. I'd ignore it and keep my mouth shut although I would make certain to allow any rampage killing targeting management to proceed unhindered. Wouldn't want to get fired after all...
 
I also support firing this man.
He broke company policy.
This case is about private agreements between and employer and employee.

If you are going to accept employment from a company, you have to be willing to the requirements they have for the job. If you don't like the requirements, you need to work for someone else.
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I couldnt possibly disagree with you more. No employer has the right to prohibit somone from exercising a constitutional right. PERIOD.

If an employer can do this then slavery really didn't end in 1865.
The whole point of God given and constitutionally guarranteed rights is that no large powerful entity be it your government or a large corporation has the power to make you give up your rights, or to require you to endanger your life.
 
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