The Smell of the Hammer and Sickle...

Let's do a scenario here. Okay.. During your unpaid lunch break, you decide you are going to exercise by briskly walking the stairs in your building. You start at the bottom floor and walk up and down the stairs for 20 minutes. 15 minutes into your stair climb adventure, you twist your ankle falling down 6 stairs into another employee walking up and the both of you tumble down to the landing 8 feet below. Both of you are bleeding. You feel a sharp pain in your ankle and wrist. You are bleeding from the head. The other person lies unconscious from cracking her head on the concrete floor of the landing.

After X-rays, it shows you fractured your tibia and fibula in your right lower leg just above the ankle. You also have fractured the radius and ulna in your distal right arm just above the wrist. Both fractures are going to require surgery to repair. You are sutured for the 2 lacerations on your forehead and get 5 staples to your scalp to close the gaping laceration on top of your head. The doctor tells you that you received a concussion but wants you to consult a neurologist just to make sure. Also an orthopedic surgeon was consulted about the broken bones. You are admitted until your surgery in the a.m. the next day.

Your insurance company does the standard inquiry into the accident and finds that you were using a concrete fire escape stairs for exercise. They thoroughly investigate contacting physical therapists and such to ask if walking on concrete fire escape steps is safe for exercising. 4 our of 5 of the experts say yes you can exercise in that manner. But one says it isn't safe because of the concrete and the fact that the stairs were probably designed for egress only. Your insurance company sides with the expert and denies your claim. Plus, your employer fires you because you didn't get approval to use the fire escape stairs for exercising, you were not on the timeclock when you fell. You argued that since you were on the company property, they are liable. The other lady you bashed into midfall breaks her back and is unable to return to work. She is confined to a wheelchair the rest of her natural life. She sues the company and your insurance company and wins big time.

The company writes a policy that there will be no exercising on company property anybody caught walking the stairs instead of using the elevators will be disciplined and repeat offenders will be terminated.

Was it fair for her company to fire her? Was it fair that the company discipline workers walking up and down the stairs when there are operative elevators that will take you from floor to floor.

Ya know what my answer is???? Of course you do. Ya goddamn right the company was fair in firing her. Tomorrow I'll get into specifics on my answer. But for now... How would you have handled this situation... I want everybody's opinion on this one!!!

Eric