Michigan Grocery Cashier, Fired for 'Creepy' Hugs, Has His Day in Court

A Michigan grocery store cashier who was fired after customer complaints that his hugs were “creepy” was placed and probation and ordered to enroll in a behavioral program after he pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Fred Civis, 57, who had worked at the same Whitehall grocery store for nearly 40 years, was originally charged with assault. He told The Muskegon Chronicle/MLive he wanted to put the controversy that had divided the town of 2,700 behind him.

“I just want it done,” Civis said. “I just want to go on.”

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Civis was fired from his job at Plumb’s Valu-Rite Foods in August after several female customers complained that his hugs were unwanted. One of them filed a police report, leading to the charges. Plumb’s said Civis had been warned on previous occasions that he would be fired if he continued hugging customers, a gesture Civis maintained was one of friendliness, but had refused to comply.

“We don’t terminate someone for giving unwanted hugs,” Jim Nader, Plumb’s president and chief executive, told The Detroit News. “He just couldn’t follow the policy.”

A Facebook page set up by supporters of Civis and urging a boycott against Plumb’s has more than 13,400 “likes.” His wife, Marsha Civis, called the accusations “terrible” in a post on the page, and said she hopes the customer whose complaint set off the police investigation “will grow up and just love people.”

One woman who posted in support of the firing, but was not the original complainant, reportedly received death threats. Belinda Barbier, Civis’ attorney, said her client didn’t initiate the Facebook page or the call for a boycott, and is dismayed by the violent nature of some of the comments.

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“He does not condone any violence,” Barbier said. “He has never condoned any violence.”

The complainant agreed with the plea agreement, Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat said.

“We have been in close contact with the victim,” Maat said. “It was her strong preference to get this case resolved, and our office agreed with her request.”

Four other women came forward and said the cashier’s hugs were invasive since the charges against Civis were announced. The women do not know one another, Maat said.

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Photo via Facebook page in support of Fred Civis