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Classify this one under no good deed goes unpunished: A Detroit groundskeeper who turned into police a loaded gun he found was fired by his bosses for gun possession.
John Chevilott, a 23-year county employee who was two years shy of retirement, found a loaded snub-nosed revolver in the weeds on May 3 when he and his crew were mowing a lawn, according to news reports. Mr. Chevilott held onto the gun and waited for police to drive by so he could hand it over to them.
But he never saw an officer drive by, so Mr. Chevilott finished his work for the day, took the gun home and later that evening turned it over to his local police department. The police discovered the weapon had been stolen in 2005.
Mr. Chevilott said he was praised by the police for doing the right thing, but his bosses took quite a different view. He was fired by the Wayne County Department of Public Services for violating a policy that employees are not allowed to possess a weapon on work property. His supervisor was suspended for 30 days.
Mr. Chevilott says he did not bring a weapon to work, but found it on the job. “There is no policy,” he told MyFoxDetroit.com. “I’ve never seen a policy what to do if we find a gun out here. So, all I did was secure the situation to make sure nobody else got hurt or killed.”
Commenting on the incident, blogger Jonathan Turley said, “What is astonishing is that I have been to Detroit and see public workers who appeared catatonic and unresponsive to verbal or physical stimuli. Yet, they have secure jobs. We have discussed how it seems that every Detroit city council member is either under investigation or facing criminal charges. They also have secure jobs until their convictions. This guy turns in a weapon before it could hurt someone and he is fired just short of retirement.”
Two letter carriers have filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contending that having to deliver mail to a nudist colony creates a hostile work environment.