Thomas Smith was trying to get his life in order.
The 52-year-old, released from prison in May after serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery, thought a $9-an-hour job gathering grocery carts from the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Albany, N.Y., was a good place to start.
He had been homeless before he landed his new job and was looking forward to bringing home a steady paycheck that he could use to support his two teenage children.
But on Nov. 6, less than 90 days into his new job, Smith was fired for redeeming a total of $2 worth of cans and bottles that were left in a shopping cart outside the store entryway, violating a store policy that he claims he was unaware of, according to the Albany Times Union.
In New York, empty cans and bottles can be redeemed for cash. Smith told the paper he began collecting the ones he found discarded by customers in the parking lot to put a few extra dollars in his pocket.
I didnt know you couldnt take empties left behind, Smith, who has a learning disability and claims he turned to crime in the past because of a heroin and cocaine addiction, told the Times Union. They were garbage. I didnt even get a chance to explain myself. They told me to turn in my badge.
Instead of giving him a chance to explain, Smith claims he was taken to the stores security office and interrogated by three security managers. Afterward, he said, he was asked to sign a statement admitting his guilt.
Rattled, confused and unable to read the statement without his glasses, Smith told the Times Union he signed the document because he wanted to avoid a larger conflict and because he didnt want to risk violating his parole.
Cmon, Mark Emanatian, an organizer of the Albany chapter of the public activist group Citizen Action, told the Times Union. Firing the guy for $2 in bottles and cans? Wheres the human compassion? Wheres the dignity and respect?
Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, a Republican from Schaghticoke, told the Times Union he visited the Wal-Mart where Smith was employed and asked the manager to give him another chance by hiring him at a different location.
I said this is nonsense, McLaughlin told the paper. Lets just try to help the guy. He made a mistake, give him a warning and move on. Hes been in prison, he was homeless and now hes got a job and is trying to contribute to society. Theyre turning a mole hill into a mountain of bad publicity.
He added: I told Wal-Mart theyre a week away from their biggest shopping day of the year and they could end up with a bunch of protesters outside the store. Just transfer him to a different store. Easy fix.
But Wal-Mart isnt budging, according to the Times Union. A spokesman for the big box retailer released a statement saying Mr. Smith was terminated due to theft inside of the store and has signed a statement admitting to the crime.
Clarifying that statement, Aaron Mullins, a Wal-Mart spokesman, told the Times Union that Smith was guilty of gross misconduct for removing discarded bottles from a shopping cart that had been sitting near the entryway for nearly and hour and then redeeming them inside the store.
The bottles, Mullins explained, are considered Wal-Mart property making Smith, in essence, a thief. The act, Mullins noted, was caught on a surveillance camera.
He was terminated for taking property inside the store, Mullins told the paper.
By all other accounts, Smith was a model employee during his brief time at Wal-Mart. When the stores management asked him to work extra shifts on the weekend, he complied. On the day he was fired, the Times Union reported, Smith had been working four hours more than his scheduled shift.
