A former Circle K worker is suing the company after it fired her for an encounter with an armed thief in Westminster, Colorado.
According to 75-year-old Mary Ann Moreno’s lawsuit against Circle K, the woman claims she was wrongfully fired due to the incident, the New York Post reported Saturday.
Moreno had worked at the store for nearly 20 years.
While she was behind the counter on October 4, 2020, a man named Tyler Wimmer entered the building while reportedly carrying a knife and a sealed package that held another knife.
Still images show the moment the scene unfolded at the store’s counter:
The video surveillance of the incident does not clearly show if the man threatened the elderly clerk with the weapon, however, Wimmer asked her to give him a pack of cigarettes at no charge.
Moreno said she would not because she could lose her job.
Moments later, Wimmer strode past the woman and appeared to snatch a pack from behind the counter. The clip shows Moreno holding her hand out towards the man.
“When he came around that fast he was like right there and I freaked out and I just went like that,” she recalled during an interview with Fox 31 while holding up her hands.
“I guess I grabbed his arm, I don’t remember that. I pushed him and that’s when he ran out,” she added.
Once the man left the building, Moreno called her manager and 911 for help.
Wimmer reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet, according to the Daily Mail.
“Police caught Wimmer after a short chase on foot. He pleaded guilty to robbery and a pair of unrelated cases and received three years in Community Corrections. He’s due to be released in a year,” the outlet said.
According to the Post, a customer was inside the store when the incident unfolded and called police the moment he saw the man with the knife.
Meanwhile, Moreno did not get a termination letter from the company. Days after the incident, she was informed she was being let go for allegedly violating its “Don’t Chase or Confront Policy” regarding criminal activity.
The woman’s attorney, Irish Halpern, claimed the video confirms Moreno acted in self-defense during the ordeal, adding, “Companies have not sufficiently thought through the nuance in these situations, and any normal person is going to respond by pushing an attacker away from them.”
Social media users who commented on the Post story shared their opinions on the matter.
“This is getting out of hand. The criminals are portrayed as the victims. I think we can all agree we want off the crazy train,” one person wrote, while another said, “I think her lawyer is correct. It was a natural reflex.”