Recently, a Family Dollar location in Saginaw, MI made headlines when someone recorded an altercation between the store manager and some young women, who were accused of shoplifting Febreze. The confrontation became heated, with strong language from each of the people involved, and the manager even sprayed Febreze in one of the women's eyes (as if it were pepper spray). Although the employee in question has since been fired, concerns have been raised about gay rights, particularly because the manager mentioned he was pregnant, and one of the women used a homophobic slur against him. Multiple copies of the video have been uploaded, and have since gone viral-to the point where TMZ took notice, and interviewed the store manager in question.
Below is the video of the aforementioned incident. Warning: NSFW.
TMZ interviews Saginaw Family Dollar employee fired after video shows confrontation with women he believed had shoplifted
on June 04, 2014 at 5:41 PM, updated June 04, 2014 at 5:47 PM
SAGINAW, MI — Gavyn C.L. Edlinger says he was moving up the managerial ladder at his job, until a video of him confronting a women he suspected of shoplifting Febreze surfaced and went viral.
Edlinger, this week, learned the video cost him his job. But it gained him an interview with the entertainment media company TMZ.
The 32-year-old was recorded by an onlooker as he argued with the woman in a car parked outside Family Dollar, 3220 Sheridan in Saginaw.
The video includes strong language and a moment when Edlinger sprays air freshener at one of the women. A YouTube video has been set to private, but World Star Hip Hop also has the video posted.
The Saginaw News could not reach the store's district manager for comment.
Edlinger said prior to the video being taken, there were two women in the parking lot who some customers complained were panhandling and trying to sell a purse. He said he approached them when one asked for a lighter for her cigarette.
"She was pregnant," he said. "So I didn't even think about giving her one. They came in the store. They wasn't buying anything, so we were watching them."
Edlinger said he asked them to leave.
"They went next door to the grocery store next door trying to sell a purse," he said. "We have a good relationship with (the store). They told us that two girls were trying to sell a purse that was filled with a bunch of stuff they believed was stolen from us."
Police were called but didn't show up, Edlinger said.
"They were leaving and I was told to get a license plate number," he said.
Officials at Saginaw County Central Dispatch said they did not have a record of a call for assistance from the Family Dollar address.
Edlinger said a car pulled into the parking lot to pick up the women, and he was trying to get a picture of the license plate when the confrontation started.
While Edlinger was talking to one of the women, a passenger began to curse at her, telling her to drive off. That's when things grew heated.
The video of the confrontation went viral the next day, first appearing on Facebook, then being featured on World Star Hip Hop under the title "Gay Man Confronts Mother Who Stole Febreze Air Freshener & Goes From Calm To Crazy Just Like That." Edlinger said losing his job is of greater concern than being identified as gay.
"It didn't offend me, because in 2014, we are still fighting for rights in the LGBT community in a city where city council members openly refer to people in the LGBT community as Nazis," he said.
The next day, Edlinger's district manager met with him, he said.
"I told him what happened. I told him I flipped out a little. I told him I worked six days a week, and 52 hours a week. I told him I was stressed out. I apologized for my actions," he said.
Edlinger said he was told to write a statement.
"I called him that night, and I told him that I sat back and watched the video and I told him I was I embarrassed and told him I was uncomfortable coming in to work the next day," he said.
He called back and learned he was fired.
On Tuesday, June 3, TMZ called Edlinger for an interview.
He said he thought at first it was a joke, but after confirmation, he decided to talk to TMZ.
"I did my interview on Skype in my living room," he said. "It was primarily, 'Why would they stop you for stopping shoplifters?'"
Edlinger said he believes he should not have been fired and that he could have been warned or suspended first.
Another video, showing a scuffle between a paramedic and dollar store cashier, recorded by an onlooker last October at a different Family Dollar location in Saginaw, went viral last year. The paramedic was eventually placed on leave, and no longer works for Mobile Medical Response.
Bob Johnson is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News.
Okay, where to begin? First of all, that employee was rightfully fired. He threw a serious tantrum and that kind of misconduct probably gives a bad name to that store now. If I had an employee that did that, I'd fire them too. That's straight up ridiculous. Even if he was working that many hours/days, every store/business requires employees to respect their customers under any circumstances. I'm fairly certain it's listed on every job applicatin ever.
I think they might be overreacting about spraying the Febreeze at them. Maybe it was the angle, but it didn't even look like it hit her, and she seemed well enough to get out of the car and continue yelling at him. Also, I'm pretty sure by the tone of her voice that her saying "I'm blind!" was sarcastic and said more as a threat than a cry in distress.
However, this:
Edlinger said he believes he should not have been fired and that he could have been warned or suspended first.
is ridiculous. Like I said before, the way he acted was unfitting of any employee and he deserved to get fired.
And one more thing: I don't understand why WorldStar started the title with "Gay Man". The real issue here is that an employee went bat♥♥♥♥ crazy on a few customers instead of handling it the proper way, not that he just so happened to be gay. Media plays up drama for no reason, and the fact that "gay rights issues" were brought up because of this is so ridiculous.
I agree with Bottomz. He defenitely should have been fired. I'm sure when they hired him, he recieved a clear understanding of the rules, and I'm assuming he broke one (maybe even numerous times, we don't know).
However, I think they were both in the wrong. The employee overracted to say the least. It takes two (or more) to argue, fight, etc. It is the employees job to be the one that backs away aka just get the license plate number. The women should never had gotten out of the car, and just provided the proof they needed.
I don't get why the media would label this story about gay rights. They were trading insults and yelling at each other. They weren't thinking.
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The employee was way out of line! First off, he is a manager and should be used to dealing with altercations like this. Working in the fast food industry, we deal with many people who don't communicate well and get mad at us on a daily basis. Throwing a tantrum or freaking out is not the answer. Although the lady was acting immaturely, it was wrong for the manager to act like as well. Firing him, was the right decision.