The concept of priorities is one that is unavoidably out there. It’s a core part of who we are as a species with choices to make at every corner and in every facet of our lives. And if you know humans, you know that even this, by nature, will be complicated.

How so? Well, even the simplest of no-brainer choices might lead to a slap on the wrist as seen in this case where a manager reprimanded an employee who saved a life on duty. Apparently, flipping burgers is more important than saving lives.

You’d think that saving someone’s life is a no-brainer, but your boss might think otherwise

Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)

A Redditor recently got punished for choosing to help a restaurant patron, thus saving her from going into diabetic shock

Image source: staysynful

Image credits: Jesson Mata (not the actual photo)

Image source: staysynful

Despite this, the employee got a write-up, which ultimately led to them quitting

Reddit user u/staysynful recently shared their moral dilemma of a situation at work on the r/AntiWork subreddit.

The story goes that OP is a fast food restaurant worker. One day, OP was with another coworker running the show while the boss was on their hour-long lunch break.

One of the restaurant patrons was acting strange. Not in a shady way, mind you. Rather, she ordered a drink, and despite free refills, she ordered another one. She looked confused, or at the very least, disoriented.

After a quick back-and-forth with their coworker, OP decided to call for help. Soon, the police arrived and handled the situation, taking the woman away in an ambulance.

It was then that OP had to bounce. However, once they returned to work the next time, they got written up for seemingly calling the authorities without waiting for the manager. This was an immediate confused look and shrug moment.

Of course, OP saved copies of everything as any careful employee would and simply quit. No job seemed worth it if those were the priorities.

The story drew a crowd online, with many sharing similar heroic (or not) stories

It wasn’t long till folks on the subreddit started catching wind of the situation and throwing in their two cents. And that led to the 7,600 upvotes that the post got in the end.

The general consensus in the comment section was that OP did the right thing, and there was no ifs, ands, or buts here—the life of a person is always more important than work.

With that said, one commenter shared how their dad was in a similar situation, and a shopping mall guard helped him. They never got a chance to thank the guard, so they thanked OP for doing what was right.

Actually, a number of people shared similar stories. One person explained how their friend performed CPR on a person in a parking lot next to their job. They then got a write-up as apparently it “puts the company at risk for liability.”

Others in similar situations decided to do nothing, i.e. a school mistook someone, who was in diabetic shock and fell asleep on the job, for being drunk. Needless to say, that person never worked there any more.

It was only natural for commenters to exert some verbal justice on OP’s boss (and job) by suggesting to report this to a local news agency. The anti-publicity would work wonders in putting people straight.

It’s always highly recommended to call an ambulance if there’s nobody who can help

So, what’s up with management and ambulances? Was the write up legal? From a technical standpoint, it seems that the manager could get away with it because it was for leaving without waiting on the general manager over an unusual circumstance. But that is up for discussion because it was also, technically, the employee’s end of shift and they did everything else that had to be done.

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Turns out, it’s a bit messy when it comes to employment laws that require an employer to call an ambulance. There can, however, be other laws at play—laws outside employment—that could (depending on the situation) apply despite being at work. The rule of thumb, however, is to call an ambulance and avoid the moral, ethical and legal headache of whether to call for help.

At least in the UK, employers have a legal duty to make sure their employees receive immediate attention if they are injured or ill at work. The legalese also seems to suggest that this also applies to non-employees.

If anything, while OSHA doesn’t require by law to have employees be trained in first aid (including CPR), it highly recommends it. The alternative is for employees to rely on reasonable proximity to health institutions. The recommendation also elaborates on the nuances of the situation and how it all depends, further pushing the idea of when in doubt, just make the call. We’re talking about people’s livelihoods here.

So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Have you got any similar stories of write-ups despite facing moral dilemmas? Let us know in the comment section below!

Folks online said that the employee did the right thing, sharing their own stories along the way

Some commenters shared similar stories

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