N.Y. Man Fired From Job After Returning Lost Cash

Another firing of a New York state Wal-Mart employee is raising suspicion. Were the store managers justified?

An 18-year Wal-Mart maintenance worker was fired on November 6. just a couple of days after he found $350 in cash in the parking lot.

The Times Union reports that 45-year-old Michael Walsh was fired from the Niskayuna store after managers said he hesitated too long to turn in the money. How long is too long? In this case, 30 minutes.

Walsh was called into the manager's office where the Times Union says he was interrogated and terminated for "gross misconduct."

Mr. Walsh said the incident started when he found a $5 bill in the store parking lot and immediately turned it over to a manager. When Walsh resumed work, he found a small stack of $20s and $10s, in the parking lot. He finished the rest of his job - which involved picking up garbage and collecting shopping carts, then put the money in his pants pocket.

When he returned inside, he said he heard a woman screaming that she had lost her money. Walsh says he froze because he didn't want any trouble. He then went to clean the store bathrooms, and then finally returned the additional $350 to the store manager. It had now been 30 minutes since he found it.

Two days had gone by without haring a word of it. Suddenly, Walsh says a manager showed him a surveillance tape that confirmed that about 30 minutes had gone by from the time a camera captured Walsh's discovery of the cash and when he turned it in.

Niskayuna Wal-Mart store officials declined to comment.

The firing happened on the exact same day that Thomas Smith, an East Greenbush, N.Y. Wal-Mart employee, was fired for redeeming cans and bottles left behind in a shopping cart.