For those who aren’t familiar with the story, let me fill you in. In August 2008 Nigel Haskett, then a 21-year-old McDonald’s employee in Little Rock, Arkansas, witnessed Perry Kennon beating a woman in the McDonald’s where he is employed. Video shows Haskett acted quickly by forcing the assailant outside of the restaurant and then blocking the door. His actions immediately ended the beating Perry Kennon was giving to the woman in the restaurant. Afterwards, Kennon went to his car, grabbed a gun, and proceeded to shoot Nigel Haskett multiple times. Nigel then stumbled into the restaurant and eventually collapsed. Nigel survived the incident and, after three surgeries, appears to be doing well. However, he is now saddled with approximately $300,000 in medical bills and his claim for Worker’s Comp has been denied by McDonald’s and their insurer.

I am not alone in my outrage at McDonald’s for denying this claim. What is disheartening, however, is the fact that as of this writing McDonald’s is continuing to deny the claim, and several bloggers and commenters around the web seem to be siding with McDonald’s on this issue. McDonald’s insurer states “we have denied this claim in its entirety as it is our opinion that Mr. Haskett’s injuries did not arise out of or within the course and scope of his employment”. The reasoning behind this stance is that apparently, during a 30 minute orientation, Mr. Haskett and other employees were informed that during a robbery or anything like a robbery they should not get involved and should simply call 911.

Whether or not Nigel was strictly following company policy doesn’t really determine the validity of the compensation claim, unless the violation was grossly negligent and contributed directly to the injury. In this case Nigel’s action of intervening may have violated company policy (this is debatable however, as the situation was not a robbery and was arguably nothing like a robbery), but those actions may not have contributed to the actual injury. When Nigel encountered Perry Kennon beating a McDonald’s customer Perry was not armed. He was, however, actively assaulting a customer. Calling the police is the right thing to do, but the police are not magical and would not have arrived in time to end the beating being delivered to the female customer. It is entirely possible another employee was already contacting the police. Nigel’s actions immediately saved the customer from continued assault. What happened afterwards should really be viewed as a separate instance altogether. It is entirely possible that Perry Kennon may have gone to his car for the gun anyways to shoot the female customer or simply because a McDonald’s employee asked him to leave. Kennon is clearly an unstable individual who is obviously prone to shoot people over small altercations. The reasoning that Nigel Haskett’s actions potentially put additional people in danger are no more compelling than the argument that Perry Kennon may have intended to shoot the female he was assaulting, there by putting everyone in the store in eminent danger of being shot. By removing Perry Kennon from the store Nigel Haskett may have foiled further actions by Perry Kennon that could have resulted in more people than just Nigel Haskett being shot and may have resulted in the death of a McDonald’s patron. I realize this is a tenuous argument, but I make the argument for the purposes of showing just how equally speculative, tenuous, and ridiculous the claims are that Nigel Haskett’s actions somehow put more people at risk. Had Perry Kennon been armed from the start then it would not have been smart for Nigel to intervene. However, Perry Kennon was not armed. In this case, even if it is determine Nigel violated company policy, and it is determined he was aware of this policy (he currently denies being informed of this policy) it may not matter. When Nigel intervened he saw an unarmed person assaulting a customer. He did not try to fight with the perpetrator or resolve the dispute… he quickly and simply removed Perry from the restaurant and blocked his return. There was nothing negligent about these actions. The fact that Perry Kennon was unstable and had a gun hidden in this car is something Nigel could only know in hindsight. And, with a person as unstable as Perry Kennon there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t have shot Nigel or another employee over something else, like soggy french fries.

By every measure and definition I have seen (unless you ask Dwight Schrute) Nigel Haskett is a hero. He acted quickly and lawfully to aid a fellow human being who was clearly in deress. I only hope I have the courage to do the same if I am ever in a similar situation. McDonald’s owes this man far more than the $300,000.00 in medical expenses he is asking for. They owe him an apology and a debt of gratitude.

I am disappointed this story has not received the national exposure it deserves. If you are reading this, please blog about it and forward this to as many people as possible. I am thoroughly disappointed that it may require public outcry for McDonald’s to do the right thing, but it appears we are at that point and I will do whatever I can to see that Nigel is given the recognition and compensation he deserves. If anyone has any more information on this story that I may have missed, please share it with me. There is currently a fund set up to help Nigel Haskett through Twin City Bank. Donation instructions are right on their front page under “featured products” in the bottom right.