“Money can be replaced, but lives can’t.” But you know, on second thought maybe the employees can.

A Toronto armoured truck company is finding that their Human Resources methods are under the microscope, after they fired two of their guards for suffering the misfortune of being brazenly robbed on a Toronto street last month.

At the time of the 90,000 dollar robbery, Securicor officials had expressed the usual bromides, such as, "money can be replaced", "glad nobody was hurt", "everything was done by the book"
and the always popular "safety is our number one concern".

But apparently upon further review, it was a case of glad you’re safe; now you’re fired.

Securicor is pointing to procedures, that the two guards say were nowhere in print as their reason for dismissal. In fact the two guards at the centre of the controversy suggest that there has never been any formal training provided and that the company just makes it up as it goes along.

The latest robbery is the second incident for one of the guards involved, who found himself confronted by armed robbers once before and liberated of his money bags.

The two guards are hoping the union can convince Securicor to change their minds on the dismissal, for the most part they say they enjoy their jobs and the people they work with, it’s just some of the unexpected customers they come across that they could do without.

Two guards held up, then lose jobs
TheStar.com - News -
Two guards held up, then lose jobs
After the terror of facing down guns, the pair now suffer the shock of firing
March 12, 2007
Jim Wilkes
TORONTO STAR
Staff Reporter

First, Kirk Goegan and Tammy Courvoisier were robbed.
Now they feel they've been jobbed.

The two armoured truck guards are crying foul after being fired following a robbery last month in which two bandits pointed guns – Courvoisier had her own gun taken from her – in their faces.

Goegan was slugged in the head before the bandits escaped with $90,000.

Group 4 Securicor handed them termination letters at a meeting last week, citing their failure to follow "proper security procedures" that cost the Mississauga company money.

"After the robbery they told us we'd done everything right," said Courvoisier, 34, of Hamilton. "Then they told us at the meeting that our safety was their No. 1 concern – and fired us."
The pair was robbed Feb. 19 as they left their truck to replenish an ATM at a Parkdale convenience store. A masked gunman aimed his weapon at them while a second bandit clubbed Goegan on the side of the head.

As Courvoisier put up her hands, one of the bandits took her gun.

"It was very surreal staring down the barrel of the gun in my face," she said yesterday. "He could have killed me, but you kind of go into shock. A few days later the nightmares began."
"They caught us by surprise when we were far enough away from our truck that we couldn't get back to it, but not close enough to the store to jump inside," Goegan, 32, recalled yesterday at his Port Perry home. Securicor officials couldn't be reached for comment yesterday. But after the robbery, company spokesperson Robin Steinberg told the Toronto Star "the good news is nobody was seriously hurt."

"Money can be replaced, but lives can't," he said.

The company has now decided that Goegan and Courvoisier can be replaced.

The ex-guards say the so-called "policy and procedures" they're accused of violating – failing to conceal the money bag and leaving the truck at the same time – weren't even printed and given to them until after the robbery.

"I've worked there eight years and I've never seen a book on policies and procedures," she said. "They never trained us properly."

Goegan, who has worked for Securicor and its predecessor company for 12 years, agreed.
"There was never any formal training," he said. "There were never any policies or procedures in place or in print until after the robbery. You develop your own routine, just to be safe. They're just making them up as they go along."

Last month's heist was the second time Goegan has been robbed on the job.

"It was horrible," he recalled. "It took a long time for me to come back from that ...
"But it was always in the back of my mind until the 19th and then it all came back – doubled. Plus, there was an assault with this one."

He said he hasn't slept much in the weeks since the robbery and has been seeing a psychologist to "get rid of the fear and anger. I keep replaying it. I love the job and the people I work with, but it scares the heck out of me.

"We risk our lives, but because of something I couldn't have avoided – somebody comes at me with a gun and changes my life in a few seconds – they pull the plug on us."

He and Courvoisier expect to meet with the company and union officials this week in an effort to return to work.