Even Though It Violated Company Policy, Should Employees Be Fired for Doing the Right Thing?

Recently a Best Buy employee tackled a suspect deputies were chasing across the parking lot in front of the store. The sheriff's department appreciated the assistance.

Best Buy fired him for violating company policy.

Hold that thought.

Mike Jones was sitting in a pit box at South Boston (VA) Speedway when his son Dean's car crashed on the front stretch, hitting the inside retaining wall and coming to rest near the inside wall of Turn 1.

Where it burst into flames that quickly swept through the engine bay and cockpit.

As Dean struggled to release the window net and his safety harnesses, Mike ran across pit road, jumped the retaining wall, and helped his son get out of the car.

But doing so meant Jones violated track rules. Most racetracks have policies against anyone -- other than designated safety personnel -- entering the racing surface during an event. 

Which makes sense... until suddenly it doesn't. Imagine you're the dad. You just saw your son bounce off the retaining wall. Now his car is on fire. What if he's unconscious? Unlikely -- but still. What if he's woozy and struggling to unhook his safety harnesses?

That's more likely -- but you don't know.

What you do know is your son is in danger. So you instinctively try to help him. 

"I just had a single focus: Get my son out of that burning car," Dean said. "Nothing else mattered. When I saw the flames, nothing was going to stop me from getting to his car."

Understandable? Absolutely. But still: Against track rules.

So what did speedway officials do?

"Mr. Jones will not be fined nor suspended," South Boston Speedway said in a statement. "He has been placed on probation through the end of the year.

"We have sat down with Mr. Jones and discussed what transpired on Saturday, and he fully understands our position on non-safety personnel entering the track surface during an event. We are all grateful that there weren't any injuries, and we look forward to getting back to racing."

Perfect.

The track didn't pretend the rule did not exist -- do that and there might as well not be any rules. NASCAR takes safety seriously. In 2015 crew members from a number of different teams were scolded after they ran across pit road to help turn over Austin Dillon's mangled racecar. (Dillon walked away from the crash shown in the video below.)

The sanctioning body wants to make sure there is a clear path for emergency vehicles to reach the scene and is concerned about danger from cars still circling the track.

So they disciplined Jones... but minimally. 

Good leaders don't ignore the rules -- especially safety rules -- when people break them.

But they also use good judgment in how they enforce those rules.

Which is why Best Buy decided to reinstate the employee they fired. In a statement, the company said:

“We made a decision to terminate our employee for violating our clear policies but have had reason to take another look at what happened. In the end, we understand he made a split-second decision to do what he thought was right and, while we wish he hadn’t put himself or anyone else at risk, we regret our initial decision and will be offering him his job back.”

I know applying judgment to how rules are enforced is a slippery slope... but still: Sounds right to me.

But more importantly, what do you think?

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