A Phone Company Has Suspended One Of It’s Workers Because They Used Company Equipment To Rescue A Cat

Have you ever seen Disney Pixar’s The Incredible’s? I freakin’ hope so, and if not then I demand you go and watch it IMMEDIATELY.

Anyway, my point is, that at the beginning of The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible thinks he’s doing something good by saving a man’s life, however, because the man didn’t want to be saved and suffered injury while being rescued, he sued Mr. Incredible and basically every superhero lost their job because of it. Are you with me?

Basically, what I’m trying to say that, even when you think the thing you’re doing is the right thing, and it very well may actually be the right thing, there’s always a risk that doing the right thing can totally backfire on you, especially when work is concerned.

And currently, nobody knows that better than a worker who goes by the name of Maurice German.

Maurice German is a worker who has now been suspended from his job after he dared to use work equipment in order to rescue a poor kitty cat who was stuck at the top of a telephone pole, as was reported by CBS Philly.

German, who works for the American telecommunications company Verizon, was up working in a neighborhood situated in Port Richmond, Pennsylvania, last Saturday when somebody actually approached him and asked him if he could help to rescue a cat named ‘Momma’ –  who had allegedly been unable to move from the top of the pole for about 12 whole hours.

Amanda Fairchild Boyce, who is a local resident and a neighbor of Momma’s owner had also told CBS that the neighbors themselves had tried to rescue the cat themselves, however, they had no luck whatsoever.

Just like Mr. Incredible himself, German then gallantly used the company’s boom lift in order to help reach Momma, before returning the poor frightened moggy to its equally frightened owner, completely unharmed.

(Momma the cat. Credit: GoFundMe)

However, despite German’s act of sheer heroism – which of course was widely praised by all the onlookers that day – Verizon had the audacity to suspend him from work for 15 days because they said that the company’s equipment should not be used in the area where German had to perform the rescue.

Rich Young, who is the elected Verizon spokesperson, then told CBS Philly:

 “We take no joy in this job action. However, we’re committed and responsible for keeping our employees and customers safe while working in a particular area.”

Verizon also argued that its field technicians must participate in regular safety training exercises in order to keep both their workers and their customers from any potential harm.

Young also added: “Unfortunately, while this employee’s goal was admirable, he potentially put his life and those around him in jeopardy.

“While our actions may not be popular, it’s in the best interest of our employees and the communities we serve.”

As you can probably imagine, upon hearing of German’s suspension, the local community was absolutely outraged, and so has since rallied together – by way of setting up not one, but two GoFundMe pages which were set up in order to raise what German would have been earning during the 15 days he had cruelly been suspended for.

Sometimes you just really gotta love people, right folks?

(One of the GoFundMe pages for German. Credit: GoFundMe)

One of the pages, which was set up by one of German’s colleague’s, whose name is Keith Morales, reads; “

“The $4,650 (£3,500) goal is the equivalent of the 15 days (3 weeks) pay that Maurice will forgo for simply being a human being looking to help one of our 4 legged friends.

“Thank you in advance for your donation, and please remember that no donation is too small.“

Which, to be fair, is super accurate, and also a super sweet gesture!

The second page was the set up by a woman named Amanda Fairchild Boyce, and that page, at the time of writing this (and as you can see by the image above) has already exceeded its original goal of $2,400 (£1,800), and has now very nearly raised a whopping $4,000 (£3052.20) which a current total of $3,395 (£2590.55), which is just amazing.

She wrote in the GoFundMe post:

“Last weekend a Verizon employee came to the rescue of a cat (Princess ‘Momma’) outside of my home stuck on top of the telephone pole for 12 hrs. After numerous attempts to find support, no one could help. That’s until Maurice German and his team showed up!

“This generous man is now being punished! Maurice is being suspended from his job for saving an animal. Let’s support Maurice for his good deed while his employer punishes him!”

Since then, Verizon spokesman Young has also shown his face again and added that Verizon will be making a donation to the Pennsylvania SPCA in Fishton in order to contribute towards the animal rescue efforts the charity does… which, I guess, is kinda nice? Even if the initial reason for making the donation isn’t so great in the first place.

Well, either way, at least the story has a pretty happy ending; a good deed went to bad but then ended up good again, which I’m calling a win! A cat what saved and justice was served, and once again I’ve been reassured that there is actually some good out there the world. Happy days!

How do you feel about this one, folks? Do you think Verizon did the right thing by suspending Maurice German or do you think their actions where way too harsh? Let me know in the comments! And don’t forget to share this with your friends and family so that they can weigh in on the debate too! AAx

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