LUDLOW – Three nights before Christmas, Douglas Moore was at his job at the Cumberland Farms on West Street when a man stuck a gun in his face and told him to empty the cash register.

The next morning, Moore’s boss called him at home to ask him to come to the store for a talk.

“I thought she was going to see how I was doing,” he said.

Hours after being surprised by a gunman, Moore, 24, of Springfield, was surprised again – he was fired.

“I didn’t think I’d be fired,” he said. “Right before Christmas doesn’t seem right.”

Moore, who worked there for about 18 months putting in 40 hours a week for just less than $9 an hour, was let go because at the time of the robbery he had more than $75 in the register drawer.

The amount of money taken in the Dec. 22 robbery was never disclosed by police, but anything more than $75 is a violation of Cumberland Farms policy, he said.

Moore said management told him they could tell from the overhead surveillance tapes that the robber made off with more than $200.

He does not deny that there was more than $75 in the register, but said it was not much more. It might have been $100, or maybe as high as $150, but he disputes it was more than $200.

Cumberland Farms spokeswoman Karen Warner said the chain has a policy requiring cashiers to limit the amount of money in register drawers. She said she did not know the limit amount.

Limiting the amount of cash is said to deter robberies because criminals know they will not score much money in a holdup, she said.

“We limit the amount of cash in the drawer so it doesn’t encourage robberies,” she said. “It’s for the protection of employees and customers.”

She said she could not speak about the penalty to any employee who violates the policy.

Cumberland Farms requires clerks to make frequent cash drops into the safe behind the counter when the register drawer gets full.

Moore said he had made three drops that night before losing track of the amount in the drawer.

The store was unusually busy up until that point of the night with people coming in to buy lottery tickets, gift cards and last-minute Christmas presents, he said. In addition to ringing up customers, he was busy cleaning the store, restocking the coolers and shelves and refreshing pots of coffee.

“Of course there are going to be times when there is going to be more than $75,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be fired for being a little over.”

Nancy Cardaropoli, of East Longmeadow, is a regular customer of that West Street store. Or at least, she said she used to be. Cardaropoli said she and other regular customers were furious when they heard Moore was let go, and she is refusing to do business at any Cumberland Farms store.

“It is appalling what they did to him. Doug could have been killed, and all they cared about was the little bit of money in the drawer,” she said. “That is so wrong on so many levels.”

She said Moore was nice to customers so he encouraged repeat business. That is how she came to know him, she said.

In the days since his dismissal, customers have called the Cumberland Farms home office to complain about the action taken against Moore.

In the meantime, Moore said he was forced to put on hold pursuit of his bachelor's degree in accounting that he is taking through the online program at Colorado Technical University while he looks for work.

“I can’t sit at home. I’ve got bills to pay,” he said. “Unemployment is not for me.”