I got fired from the world's largest oil corp for getting robbed of $400

I'm 19 years old and I just started working at an Exxon Mobil gas station close to home. Last night I was working my first night shift.. It was just me and a co-worker who is 20 years of age. No manager was scheduled to work with us on our shift.
We close at 11. It was 10:30.
I'm standing outside of the store getting ready to lock up and a guy in a surgeon's mask comes up to me, points a gun at my face and tells me to put the money in the bag.
I rush inside panicking and shouting for my co-worker because I had no idea where the money was (I later found out she had taken the cash out the register to drop it in the safe).
So he walks over to the other side of the store and points the gun at HER face and tells her to get him the money.
While this is happening, I'm already in the back of the store dialing 911 from my cell phone.
I then see my co-worker giving him the money from one of the back counters.
The robber runs.
The cops come 5 minutes later to get our statements and description of the robber.
I end up getting home around midnight.
I was so traumatized by the way it happened, I could barely sleep. You have to understand this is the first time I've ever been held at gunpoint.

I was scheduled for work today at 3PM and I went in. My manager asked how I was and we went over the camera footage to see if I recognized potential suspects, which I didn't because his face was completely covered. Around 5, the manager calls me in and tells me that he's going to have to let me go. Why?! Because my register had $300 dollars in it. I was supposed to make drops throughout my shift and have no moe than $100 in my register at anytime, but because I was so busy with floor work, I only had the chance to make one big safe drop for $600 earlier. My co-worker did not lose her job (though she very well may quit) because she only had $75 in her register... She had dropped most of it in the safe while I was outside prior to the robbery. Let's take into account that she had DROPPED MOST OF IT IN THE SAFE WHILE I WAS OUTSIDE, meaning she probably had just as much or even more in her register than I.

I'm pretty pissed that I get a gun in my face, the living s#!+ scared out of me, then the next day used for labor for two hours, only to be given the boot by my own company who is obviously more concerned about their precious $400 loss than of my own safety and security.

The night of the robbery, my manager shows up along with the cops and asks me:
"Why didn't you hit the panic button?"

My reply?

"Well, because I never knew there was a panic button. You never showed me."

Not to mention how little training I recieved at ALL during this whole three weeks working for them.

This will be the last time I ever work for a gas station, or a corporation like Exxon.

sue for failure in duty of care to protect you from the threat of robbery.

reply to post by SamTGonzalez


300% increase in lost revenue due to your negligence. You should beg them not to press charges.

reply to post by SlyingFaucers


I think you’re in the wrong forum... money hungry finance forum is that way --> don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out.

File an unemployment claim...you were fired without cause. It isn't like you planned the robbery, or received proper training in the first place. I believe your employer was negligent in failing to properly train you, and fired you without cause. How can you do the right thing, when you haven't received training to do so?

Go to your local labor bureau, or file for unemployment. Your employer will get to pay you until you find another job. You should have received remedial training, not have been fired. I hope your a minority....that always helps.

Sorry to hear that mate, hope you're going ok after your ordeal.

But as okamitengu has said already, you're in America right? Well damn sue them for not providing a secure and safe work place and better procedures for such an event. If you did only have $75 in the register then he might have demanded more and used his gun.

Surely you could claim genuine stress and trauma from such an event.

Chin up though

reply to post by Whateva69


Satire my love, satire. But seriously, what reason does this guy have for quadrupling his allowable register. In my short time on this planet I have worked for about 25 companies in about the same number of years and Exxon's banking policy seems very reasonable.

There are few circumstances when I was unable to bank as the company requested, and when I was over, it was never by that much. What you need to realize is they have more than one retail operation and they set benchmarks based on common performance in these instances.

The more everyone sides with the OP the more I disagree. While this is a rant and you are more than entitled to your opinion, you didn't do the job your employer hired you for or asked you to perform. What base do you have to sue this company?

Sorry to hear about this OP... one point though... depending on the legal construction that the oil company uses in my experience you are not actually hired by the supplier but a private firm that is like a franchise..

So no use bothering big oil.. they have themselves covered for this type of BS..

at best you were negligent in your actions leaving that much money in the till when you knew you were supposed to make regular safe drops, at worst you were in on the robbery , and that is what your own testimony shows so ya be grateful your not under investigation.

I've worked for those places. There is always time to drop money into the safe. The owners will not get angry with you for making a customer wait a whole 3 minutes while you put some bills into an envelope and drop it, even if you think you don't have time to write it down (which you do). Better to be safe than sorry.

All of those type of places have rule regarding how much cash should be in your register at a given time, especially at night.

reply to post by vonhelton

Originally posted by vonhelton
at best you were negligent in your actions leaving that much money in the till when you knew you were supposed to make regular safe drops, at worst you were in on the robbery , and that is what your own testimony shows so ya be grateful your not under investigation.

If you don't mind me asking, how does my testimony in ANY way show that I was in on the robbery?

reply to post by SlyingFaucers


troll fail.

Originally posted by SlyingFaucers
The more everyone sides with the OP the more I disagree. While this is a rant and you are more than entitled to your opinion, you didn't do the job your employer hired you for or asked you to perform. What base do you have to sue this company?

What was his job? security?

cmon get real, he was a register biscuit.

reply to post by Lysergic


Id be williing to bet he managed to take a smoke break between the time he hit his register max and the time he was robbed.

You get real. He was working the night shift and we arent talking about coffee time where he might have a constant flow of customers...

My bet is they looked at the surveillance tape of him spitting on his shoes and wiping them clean with napkins before he was robbed instead of taking the money from his register and putting it in the safe, thats what got him fired.

If you think I am questioning whether or not he should have given the money to the robber or risk death, your mistaken. What I am questioning is his work ethic.

reply to post by SlyingFaucers


its fun to be the devil's advocate yah?

That is a tough break and you were definitely treated unfairly. I am glad neither you nor your co-worker was hurt. But you should really consider another line of work, it's not worth your life for a couple hundred bucks. Don't mind these unbelievable people sticking up for bloody Exxon.