Convenience store giant 7-Eleven has found itself the target of social media outrage after a story about how it treated one of its employees was made public.
Stephanie Dilyard worked at one 7-Eleven store in Oklahoma City when she was given a counterfeit $100 bill from a customer. Dilyard refused to accept it and the man attacked her, tried to strangle Dilyard for doing her job.
Unfortunately for that man, later identified as Kenneth Thompson, Dilyard was armed, and she shot him.
In response, 7-Eleven fired Dilyard from her job.
7/11 employee in Oklahoma FIRED after shooting a man who tried to kiII her
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 19, 2025
7/11 wants their employees to let themselves be kiIIed rather than defend themselves.
Wtf @7eleven?!
Give her her job back!!! pic.twitter.com/kXKjlC8QPc
Stephanie Dilyard, a former 7-Eleven clerk, faced a terrifying ordeal when a man attempted to strangle her after she refused to accept a counterfeit $100 bill for purchases.
The incident occurred just before midnight on Thursday.
Dilyard recounted, "He threatened me, and said he was gonna slice my head off, and that's when I tried to call the police. He started throwing things at me, came behind the counter. I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space, and that's when I pulled out my gun and I shot him."
...Police confirmed that Dilyard is protected under Oklahoma's self-defense law.
However, she was terminated by 7-Eleven on Monday for using her own gun. "They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy," Dilyard said.
Dilyard, who had been working alone from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. for over two years, still bore a scratch on her neck and burns on her finger from firing the pistol.
"He threatened me, said that he was going to slice my head off," Dilyard told local news. "He grabbed his hands around my neck and pushed me out of the counter space. That's when I pulled out my gun and I shot him."
"They said that they were going to separate from employment because of a violation of policy," Dilyard said. "This is a situation where I felt like I was put in a corner between choosing between my job and my life. And I'm always going to choose my life because there's people that depend on me."
Despite losing her job, Dilyard remained certain she did the right thing.
"I'm going home, you know, that's my goal. I need to be here for my kids," she said. "I hope that women see that, you know, they'll do the same thing. You have a right to defend yourself."
According to Fox 25 in Oklahoma, 7-Eleven has not responded to requests for comment on Dilyard's firing. In the meantime, Dilyard began a GoFundMe to raise money while she looks for a new job.