Customers are rallying around a Safeway meat clerk who was suspended without pay for intervening when he saw a man attacking a pregnant woman.
The employee, Ryan Young of Del Rey Oaks, California, asked the man to stop when he saw the conflict in the parking lot. When the man refused and began pushing and even kicking his girlfriend, Young pushed him away.
This account has been confirmed by local police, according to Fox 35.
A petition on change.org asking that Young's position be reinstated and compensated has garnered 162,000 signatures, with local patrons calling for a boycott.
One woman who says she's a Safeway employee says she spends $200/week at the store but now plans to avoid it until the situation is resolved. Others that he "shouldn't be punished for doing the right thing," and that Safeway is "condoning the abuse."
So far there's been no response from Safeway.
Don't miss: 14 ways to get fired from McDonald's >More From Business Insider
