Walgreens Sued for Firing Hungry Diabetic

There is nothing worse than to feel your sugar bottoming out. I have had this happen in the middle of a store and I grab a mountain dew and start drinking it, then pay for it. You don’t always have the time to pay first then eat or drink…

This is the way corporate America has gone. Yes, in their world, a bag of chips IS more valuable than a long term employee. Long term employees cost more money than a brand new, minimum wage employee.

What a bunch of hypocrites! It’s funny they hire a diabetic and then fire her over her condition. I’m just wondering if they used this employee in any fashion in any type of advertising or reports to whatever government agency to show how they have diversity in the work place. And how many of millions of dollars does Walgreen’s make every year on the selling of diabetic supplies and prescriptions??? And they can’t kick down in an emergency situation? This is the worst $1.39 business decision they every made. For starters the attorney’s who just read the suit is going to cost them lots more than a $1.39. They will lose lots more on some of the 20 million diabetics in this country who decide to switch to a competitor over this article.

Now on a side note to ABC, get your headline straight, she wasn’t hungry she was attempting to raise her blood glucose level. While eating chips may have not been the best choice to raise blood glucose in a person, there is a difference between low glucose and being hungry.

My husband is a Type I diabetic, and I’ll tell you that a bag of chips won’t raise your blood sugar quickly. Only candy, juice, or something very sweet will. This cashier obviously just wanted a bag of chips, and it really didn’t have anything to do with her blood sugar. That being said, she DID pay for them later, and she’s been an employee for many years. So, my guess is that Walgreen’s used this incident to get rid of an employee that they didn’t care for, for whatever reason.

It’s up to Walgreen’s, not the EEOC to determine how much the employee is “worth”. There’s obviously more at work here than a bag of chips, and “Oh, uhh, I’m diabetic!” is a pretty flimsy excuse.

i will never shop there any more and should evry body else who read this news. Shame on them.

Cherry, the guy who fired his weapon should be fired. First, anywhere you work and handle money, you are trained to give the robbers what they want and to get them out of the store so that no one else is hurt or killed. These guys could have just started randomly firing back and hurt or killed other employees or customers. This guy was an idiot and I would never keep him as an employee if he did this at work. He is no hero, he endangered others lives!!

Im not surprised. I used to work for walgreens and when i was hired they knew i had panic attacks which required medication because they were so frequent. However no matter how good an employee i was (i ran the beauty dept), they told me that my attacks were bdcoming a problem, and if they werent going to be more in control, then i could be fired. They started reducing my hours, making me work in the middle of the night, making my life miserable. Never mind the fact that a manager in my store was stalking me, which i had made many reports about and they did NOTHING. They just transfered him instead of fired him. My attacks were worse than ever. They always said i was a great employee but my attacks in front of the customers werent a good look for the store.. so right before they were gonna let me go, i quit. I couldnt take it anymore. I was young and i had no clue of my rights back then. I wish i had…

Tom, there’s probably not a cemetery in America that does not contain the body of at least one clerk who followed company policy, gave the robbers everything they wanted, was polite and obeyed every instruction right up to the point the gun went off, the bat crushed a skull or the knife pierced the heart. Whatever happens when a robber starts the chain of events is the fault of the robber, not the victim. More than one robbery has resulted in the clerk and customers all being killed. Company policy aside, one must assume the worst when faced with an evil individual and a weapon.

Too bad this didn’t happen to one of those “compassionate conservatives” who hates unions and believes business is “over-regulated”. Then we could enjoy seeing him skewered by his own political philosophy.

I have been shopping at Walgreens since they came to Arizona. For me that is 30 years of shopping. I am very disappointed in the way you treat your employees (such as the diabetic and potaoe chips) and a gentleman I saw but not have read the whole article.

Think twice before you loose you customers especially those who have been shopping at your store for more then 30 years.

Walgreens has not told its side of the story. I’m sure it is quite different from the employee’s.

Marion contact your local American Diabetes Association and they can direct you to someone who should be able to help. Fortunately, my boss witnessed me go out in one of his laborious meetings when I had my supplies at my desk, then being carted out such that now he gives me a little more latitude. I would not advocate the ambulence ride or the gulcogon shot to recover consciousness but it does leave a lasting impression.

As an emergency MD, I can attest to the fact that when a brittle diabetic runs into problems with low blood sugar, they need food, and they need it right away. Five minutes can make the difference between a patient who recovers quickly without medical care and one who becomes unconscious and in need of EMS services to keep them alive. Unless there is evidence this woman failed to reimburse Walgreens for the food she ate, tried to hide the fact that she took the food in an emergency, or had a history of other theft from the store, Walgreens should give her the benefit of doubt.

My cousin was fired from Walgreens for the exact same thing. She was very sick, took her prescription and went to pay for it on her break but they fired her anyway. What is it with Walgreens? They need to look at redoing their policies!!

Kohl’s is just as bad. I made the mistake of purchasing something while on a break. They made a big to-do about me shopping while on the company’s time. I’d worked for them for 6 years and never a problem. Others had shopped on their breaks too – for years. How is that any different than someone taking a break and eating, sitting down or making a personal call? I quit right after that. It was only a part-time job. I only take garbage like that off of my full-time employer.

“Could it be that she has been stealing from the company” ~~~~~~~I checked on this possibility. She has a spotless record. NO disciplinary actions for anything, including any thefts.

This is obviously a cooked up story. Anyone with diabetes would not grab a bag of chips to curb low blood sugar with a gazillion other much more efficient products handy in Walgreen’s. She says that she usually kept candy in her pocket for such instances. One wonders why potato chips over several aisle of candy that are in every WalGreen store, at the counters and all over the store. I don’t believe her story for one minute. She wanted a bag of chips. And, I also find that she paid for them as “soon as she could” a bit vague…was this hours later or days later? This story is sooo suspicious…. I don’t see why almost 90% of the folks here jump to the conclusion that WalGreen’s is at fault. I think it’s highly more likely she grabbed a bag of chips to eat while on duty (and maybe this wasn’t her first time) as there’s just no logical reason for her to use chips for her diabetes. Even after 18 years of working in a place is not proof that an employee is blameless. I’ve seen people who have ruined their careers and worked just as long, by doing something totally stupid….. I just can’t believe her story. I’ll wait for WalGreen’s response before I totally judge this. However, just common sense doesn’t make it look to good for this lady.

It depends on the chips, some brands do have a lot of sugar in them. Don’t be so judgmental, even if you know or are a diabetic. Everyone is different. My in-laws get a weak in the knees feeling, while my mother turns into a complete child whenever sugar levels are low. People will react differently.

Yes, chips are a bad choice, but when one is about to go down the nearest thing is the choice. It was an emergency situation, she grabbed the nearest thing, and paid after. Ridiculous that they fired her. It would be one thing if she took the chips and didn’t pay until someone called her on it, but she paid for them because she knew she needed to.

I agree with Sharon, more at work here than a bag of chips.

Wow – since when can employees just grab a bag of food, eat it, and then pay for it “before the end of the day”? No wonder why companies are losing so much money due to employee theft. People are abusing our justice system – only we would allow these kind of lawsuits to happen.

Well I have worked for Walgreens and let me tell you they do fire people or stupid stuff all the time. They make billions a month and they dont care for their employees. Their Health Insurance is a joke, sometimes no breaks. They do this so the higher ups can have million Dollar salaries. Good Luck Josefina, time to stop Walgreens from treating employees this way

Wow. Walgreens could have done things a little different here to limit the liability

Dear ABC, As the parent of a type I diabetic I take issue with two things in your coverage of this important news story. First, this is not about a ‘hungry diabetic’ but about an emergency situation that diabetics experience – hypoglycemia. A hypoglycemic event occurs when blood sugar falls too low, and the brain cannot function. In fact, without treatment, cell death begins to occur, and the patient will become unconscious, have seizures, both, or at worse – die. Treatment of a hypoglycemic event cannot wait, ever. I truly wish that you would re-title this piece, and provide due diligence to what this employee truly experienced in that crucial moment when she chose (rightfully) to eat a bag of chips before paying for it. Walgreens – shame on you. No amount of corporate support to JDRF, for which we are all grateful, makes up for this kind of treatment of your employees – ever. And, given your corporate support of JDRF, it does seem odd that it takes the EEOC to bring to your company’s attention the reprehensibility of the actions taken against the employee in this situation.