Story Archive

Community Service

Twyla DeVito loved working as a bartender for the American Legion Post in Shelby, Ohio. “They do a lot of good for this community, for our veterans,” she said. Recently, one of her regular customers, Mike Ramey, was already drunk by the time she got to work, she says. When Ramey went to leave, DeVito thought he was not fit to drive and called the police. According to the police report, they located Ramey and administered a breathalyzer test. He blew 0.167 percent, more than twice the legal limit, and was arrested. Two days later, DeVito’s boss called her. “He said, ‘I’m going to have to fire you, because it’s bad for business to have a bartender that will call the cops’,” DeVito said, adding that her boss, Mic Hubbard, the post’s commander, said that “If every patron who comes in here has to worry about the cops waiting for them when they leave, the place would be empty.” Despite being fired, DeVito says, “I stand by what I did, and I would do it again.” (MS/WBNS Columbus) ...She did a lot of good for that community.