Money Raised For Verizon Worker Suspended For Saving Philly Cat

PHILADELPHIA — A Verizon worker did a good deed while on duty and saved a cat from a utility pole in Philadelphia. But that good deed landed him a three-week suspension at his job, which led the community to rally around him.

Maurice German, while working for Verizon, helped save a kitty named Momma from the top of a utility pole in mid March in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. The cat had been atop the pole for 12 hours.

However, when the kind act got back to Verizon, they suspended him for 15 weeks on the ground that he put himself and others in danger through the rescue.

Now the community is backing German for his kind act.

"This is completely Verizon's prerogative as they are the owners of the vehicle that Maurice used to rescue the cat," a GoFundMe page for German reads. "However, I'm sure Maurice thoughts were pure when he made the decision to rescue the cat, and that is why I've decided to start this Go Fund Me page."

As of Monday afternoon, more than $7,000 has been raised.

"Maurice will forgo 3 weeks pay for simply being a human being looking to help one of our 4 legged friends," the campaign reads.