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Worker: I was fired for calling the police
By DEBORAH O'NEIL, Times Staff Writer CLEARWATER -- The well-groomed man pulled up at the Hess station on Clearwater Beach and stumbled inside at 2:30 a.m. To assistant manager Cathy Adams, who also works as a clerk at the Clearwater Police Department, the man seemed too drunk or impaired to be driving. She offered to call him a cab. The man said that he would be fine, that he only had to go a couple of blocks, Adams said. So as the man walked out of the store, Adams told him she would call the police if he got back in the car. "He opened the car door, and I picked up the phone and called the police," Adams said. Adams, 48, says Amerada Hess Corp. fired her for that Oct. 23 report to the Clearwater Police. She had worked at the store at 580 Mandalay Ave. for almost three years and earned $9.75 an hour. Her Nov. 10 termination form reads: "Cathy Adams placed herself, other customers and the store in harm's way by having a confrontation . . . that was not within her scope of responsibility. Due to this unsafe act, she is being terminated from Hess employment." Hess spokesman Carl Tursi in New York said the company's records tell a story that is different than Adams' version of her firing. But he would not elaborate or give details about why she was fired. The form indicates her firing was prompted by a customer complaint; however, it does not indicate what the customer said. Nor is it clear whether the complaint involved the incident with the man, although the form says the incident that prompted her firing took place the same day and time as Adams' encounter with the man she suspected was drunk. Tursi said because of questions from a Times reporter, the company is reviewing Adams' termination. "We wouldn't have done it if we weren't totally comfortable we'd done it right," Tursi said. "But I can't tell you we never, ever make a mistake. "I think we did the right thing," Tursi said. "But why not double check?" Adams wanted to sue Hess. But her Clearwater attorney, Tom Carey, told Adams that although her firing was wrong, she has no legal basis for a lawsuit. So Adams and Carey are taking the issue to Tallahassee and asking that a law be passed to protect people from being fired when they perform an act to benefit the public's welfare. The protection would be similar to protection given to "whistle-blowers" or people who report an employer's wrongdoings, said Carey, an anti-drunk driving activist whose wife was killed by a drunk driver in 1983. "I told Cathy, "You may not have any legal right, but you may open a door for other people,' " Carey said. "Clearly, it's wrong. Look at the message: "Don't report drunk drivers or we'll fire you.' It's horrible." State Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, said he is researching the issue after talking with Carey. "I think there should be protection for somebody unjustly fired trying to perform a public service," Bilirakis said. "I want to look into it." Adams, who is single and has two grown daughters, said she was not trying to get the man in trouble. But his behavior indicated he was not fit to be driving, she said. He nearly fell out of the car after he pulled up, she said. Then he tripped on the curb as he approached the door. She said the man repeatedly reached for the door and missed. He "walked a little crooked" down the store aisle as he fetched a bottled water and an iced tea, she said. At the register, "His voice was so slurred I had to ask three times what he wanted," Adams said. "He had a glaring glassy look to his face. I couldn't smell the alcohol, but he definitely was either on heavy medication or alcohol." When police arrived, they discovered he was with a woman who was able to drive and sent him home with the woman at the wheel. There was no arrest and no police report was filed, said Clearwater Police spokesman Wayne Shelor. Neither Adams, her attorney nor the Clearwater Police knows the identity of the man. On Nov. 10, Adams' supervisor fired her. Adams said she was told that "because he did not ask for alcohol, it was not my responsibility to call the police. "If he had asked for alcohol, she said, it would have been my responsibility," Adams said her supervisor told her. "But because he did not ask for alcohol, it was not my responsibility to pay attention to whether he was drunk or not." Adams said she was stunned. "This is unlawful," Adams said. "They're telling me I cannot report a crime. I work for the police. I cannot turn my back. It upsets me." Shelor said the police encourage residents to do what Adams did. "It strikes me as an act of good citizenship to make that move to notify authorities of a suspected drunken driver," Shelor said. "We encourage it. It saves lives."
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