An autistic courtesy clerk at Vons grocery store in California has claimed he was fired after applying for worker’s compensation when he was attacked by thieves.
Austin Sherrell, 23, said the Bakersfield store slashed his hours then let him go following his claim after he was punched, stabbed and pepper sprayed in three attacks in four months.
He said the vicious thieves left him ‘bleeding’ and he had been struggling to process the attacks due to his mild autism.
It comes amid a continuing crime wave across the state, as violent crime rips across cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
‘Unbelievable. The first incident didn’t shake up too much, but the second incident, when you’re close to death, I’m the most shook I’ve ever been in my entire life, the most scared in my entire life,’ Austin, who described himself as ‘mildly autistic, said
Austin Sherrell, 23, was first attacked on January 19, while taking out the trash at Vons. He would be attacked two more times within four months, including a near stabbing
Sherrell was first attacked on January 19 while taking out trash at Vons – when two thieves punched in him the face and pepper sprayed him.
‘I’m bleeding and I get away and I run back inside,’ he told KGET News. ‘My biggest problem, what I have is that I’m mildly autistic, I have a hard time processing things.’
Two months later, he was attacked again in the same area, but this time an assailant ‘lunged at me with a knife.’
But he luckily had tucked a roll of trash bags into his apron pocket and the weapon plunged into that, rather than him.
‘Unbelievable. The first incident didn’t shake up too much, but the second incident, when you’re close to death, I’m the most shook I’ve ever been in my entire life, the most scared in my entire life,’ he said.
The first two incidents happened by the dumpster area in January and March. He was nearly stabbed the second time, but luckily had placed a roll of trash bags in his apron prior to the attack, which the assailant stabbed into. A third incident occurred inside the store where a man, who was believed to be under the influence, ‘chest bumped’ him before punching him three times
When he returned to Vons (pictured), he found his hours cut. Austin was suspended after being placed under investigation and later terminated on April 19
Two weeks later, on April 1, two customers told him they were being harassed by a man that might have been under the influence and he got security to help them.
During the altercation, the man ‘chest bumped him’ and got into his face, before punching Austin ‘three times,’ according to his father Adam.
‘He’s cussing me out, he’s threatening my life,’ Austin said. ‘I back away, he comes back in my face. I back away again.
The third time I defend myself, I push him off of me.’ ‘Security still did nothing,’ he said.
Austin requested worker’s compensation two days later because he was having ‘nightmares and panic attacks ever since he was almost stabbed,’ his father said.
Austin’s father, Adam (middle), said his son requested worker’s compensation shortly after the third incident because he was having ‘nightmares and panic attacks’
Upon his return, he said he found his hours cut, and on April 10 he was suspended from his job at Vons ‘pending investigation’ and was officially terminated on April 19.
Due to the termination being on his work record, Adam said it is hard to find his son another job. DailyMail.com has contacted the Sherrells and Vons for comment.
The United Food and Commercial Workers 8-Golden State union, which represents Austin, has appealed the termination.
‘Our initial findings are that Mr. Sherrell’s termination was unwarranted,’ President Jacques Loveall said.
Although Austin does not plan on returning to Vons, he said he will miss the customers and said he often received compliments from them.
‘Not to toot my own horn, a lot of people say that they like me, a lot of people are like ‘Oh we like that [employee]…Like, I hear it. I hear it all the time,’ he told KGET News.
The GoFundMe his father started has raised nearly $3,000 of its $5,000 goal, as of Friday morning.
DailyMail
