Arby's manager escapes knife-wielding bandit, gets fired

Fairborn - A day after the Fairmont, Ohio assistant manager was confronted by an armed robber, she was fired for breaching company policy.

Early Friday morning at around 12:45, assistant manager Mary Archer, 56, was alone in the restaurant closing up for the day. She heard the doorbell ring and thinking it was a co-worker who had just left, Archer unlocked the door. Instead of seeing a familiar face, Archer was confronted by a man holding a knife and demanding money. The robber managed to corner the assistant manager in the office. Screaming, she pushed him out of the way and was able to get to the drive-thru window and escape the restaurant. A customer at a nearby convenience store heard her screams and told the store's owner who called police. Nothing was taken and the suspect is still at large. Archer told WHIO TV, "I had pushed him away...because I'm like 'I'm not going to die in Arby's tonight...I'm just not.' " The next day Archer was fired. She had breached the company's safety and security policy which says employees are not to be alone in its restaurants at any time. Archer's daughter told WHIO this was the third time the restaurant had been robbed while her mother was working. During the second robbery, the safe was taken. The Dayton Daily News reports a vice president of Arby's human resources department said it was too bad Archer had to go through what she did but she violated the company's safety and security policy by remaining in the restaurant alone. He said she was warned before but violation of that policy means "termination without exception." Several comments were posted on WHIO's Facebook page. While a minority of posters felt Archer breached the policy and deserved to be terminated, the majority were angry at Arby's for firing the woman after the ordeal she had been through. One commenter said she threw away all her Arby's coupons while others felt the restaurant should be boycotted. Archer had worked for Arby's since January 1990. She does not want her job back.