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Walmart employee says he was fired for collecting cans in the parking lot

Updated: 11/19/2015 11:46 PM
Created: 11/19/2015 11:42 PM WNYT.com
Anna Meiler

EAST GREENBUSH - For Thomas Smith, corralling carts in the parking lot of Walmart was more than a job. It was a second chance.

“I’m trying to make a difference in my life,” he said.

Smith got out of prison in May after serving more than 13 years for robbing a bank in Latham to fuel his drug addiction.

“I don’t want to live the lifestyle that I lived before. I’m gonna go home and get a job and try to do better,” he said.

Two Fridays ago, he agreed to work an unscheduled shift at the Walmart in East Greenbush because the store was shorthanded. But by the end of the day, he had lost his job.

“I was so mad. I was so hurt,” he said.

Smith says he was fired for collecting empty bottles and cans in the parking lot and turning them in for a total of $5.10.

“She said well that's stealing. I said I did not know I was stealing or anything,” he said.

Smith says he took a one-hour bus ride back to Walmart on Sunday to give his manager the money from the cans. But that didn't change their mind. Smith's story has spread on social media, sparking outrage across the country and more than $800 in donations has been raised on gofundme.com.

But, a spokesperson for Walmart tells NewsChannel 13 Smith was fired for gross misconduct and theft inside the store and that the cans had nothing to do with it.

This was a surprising response for Alice Green with the Center of Law and Justice who has been helping smith and has been in contact with Walmart employees in East Greenbush.

“They certainly didn’t indicate that when I talked to them and our attorney talked to them and they said it was Walmart’s property, the cans and the bottles, and that amounted to theft,” she said.

The Walmart spokesperson says Smith admitted to stealing inside the store in a written statement. Smith says he wrote a statement admitting to taking the cans. Walmart didn't give him a copy and the company says it would go against their policy to share it with NewsChannel 13.

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