At approximately 4:00 A.M. on July 14, 2000, a woman wearing a mask and pointing a firearm demanded that 7-Eleven employees at a store in Berkeley County, West Virginia, give her the store’s money. Antonio Feliciano was working that morning as a sales clerk. While other employees emptied the cash register and the woman was focused on them, Feliciano grabbed and disarmed her. He continued to restrain the would-be robber until local law enforcement authorities arrived on the scene and apprehended her. No one was physically injured in the incident. Nevertheless, shortly thereafter, 7-Eleven terminated Feliciano’s at-will employment. 7-Eleven explained to Feliciano that he was being fired because he violated a company policy that prohibits employees from subduing a robber or otherwise interfering with a store robbery. Feliciano subsequently filed a lawsuit against 7-Eleven alleging that he had been wrongfully discharged in contravention of the West Virginia public policy favoring an individual’s right to self-defense. Is Feliciano correct that the public policy exception to employment at will renders his termination wrongful?
At approximately 4:00 A.M. on July 14, 2000, a woman wearing a mask and pointing a firearm demanded that 7-Eleven employees at a store in Berkeley County, West Virginia, give her the store’s money. Antonio Feliciano was working that morning as a sales clerk. While other employees emptied the cash register and the woman was focused on them, Feliciano grabbed and disarmed her. He continued to restrain the would-be robber until local law enforcement authorities arrived on the scene and apprehended her. No one was physically injured in the incident. Nevertheless, shortly thereafter, 7-Eleven terminated Feliciano’s at-will employment. 7-Eleven explained to Feliciano that he was being fired because he violated a company policy that prohibits employees from subduing a robber or otherwise interfering with a store robbery. Feliciano subsequently filed a lawsuit against 7-Eleven alleging that he had been wrongfully discharged in contravention of the West Virginia public policy favoring an individual’s right to self-defense. Is Feliciano correct that the public policy exception to employment at will renders his termination wrongful?
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