Kristopher Oswald Won’t Return To Wal-Mart, Despite Company’s Offer

Kristopher Oswald won’t go back to Wal-Mart, despite the company’s offer to reinstate his job. Oswald was fired by the company for violating policy when he stopped a woman from being assaulted in a store parking lot earlier this month.

Oswald explained on Friday that he believed public attention from the incident embarrassed the company, which would look for reasons to fire him again.

However, CBS News reports that a spokesperson promised no retaliation would come to the former clerk for going public with his story. The spokesperson, Brooke Buchanan, explained that Wal-Mart apologized for firing Oswald and has a strict no retaliation policy.

Buchanan added, “The offer’s on the table. If he wants to come back to Wal-Mart, we will assure he will not be retaliated against and we will provide safe working conditions for him.”

The company also offered to reimburse the 30-year-old for lost wages because of his firing. However, Kristopher Oswald isn’t taking the bait, or the job offer in this case, notes USA Today. He commented:

“The entire situation has left me with incredible anxiety. Wal-Mart feels it’s absolutely not their responsibility to help an associate harmed while on the clock. I have refused their offer to take my job back for fear of retaliation. They could not guarantee that nothing would happen from management if I did take my job.”

Oswald was working as an overnight stocker for the company when he saw an 18-year-old woman being assaulted by her former boyfriend, 17-year-old Dylan Tierney. He attempted to help the woman, but Tierney assaulted him and threatened to kill him. The fight only stopped when Oswald’s co-workers came to his aid, causing Tierney and two of his friends to leave.

Tierney was arrested and charged with drunken driving, malicious destruction of property, and domestic violence. After Kristopher Oswald went public with the story, reaction against Wal-Mart on social media was scathing. The company reconsidered its stance on the incident and offered him his job back on October 18, less than a week after the assault.

[Image via trekandshoot / Shutterstock.com]