What This 7-11 Clerk Did After a Robber Threatened His Life Got Him Fired

Edward Vaught was fired from his job at a 7-11 in Florida because he fought back against a robber. (Source: WESH-TV screen shot)

No good deed goes unpunished. And 7-11 clerk Edward Vaught found that out the hard way when he decided to stand up to a robber wielding a gun in Flagler Beach, Florida, last week.

“He pulls (what) looks like a gun out of his waistband and he pointed it right at my forehead,” Vaught told Orlando's WESH-TV. “He threatened me -- threatened he was going to kill me."

“I thought was in serious mortal danger,” he explained, adding later: “This man wants to hurt me so I need to defend myself."

And defend himself he did.

Vaught decided to turn the tables on 31-year-old Christopher Munson when Munson violently grabbed the phone when Vaught tried to call police. Vaught fought back, wrestling Munson out the door and eventually holding him at bay until police came.

It was eventually determined that Munson was wielding a fake gun, but Vaught -- who works the night shift in order to put himself through college -- said he had no idea of knowing.

Munson was arrested and Vaught was hailed as a hero considering he saved himself and another employee in the store. But that's not how his employer saw it. Within three days, Vaught was fired from his job.

Why? Because he broke from policy by fighting back.

"A dismissal was in order because the employee's action violated our policy of non-confrontation and posed a danger to himself and a co-worker," 7-11 told WESH.

For the former employee who simply wants to be a math teacher, 7-11's numbers just don't add up.