Customer Harrasment

California

I work for a retail printing company, and I was recently told in a meeting that we absolutely have to take harrasment (verbal, name calling, extremely rude, etc) from customers, short of physical attacks!? Is this against the law? I am not going to stand a customer calling me names or throwing things at me just because my company wants me to put up with it.

Tell me if i'm right or wrong.

You're wrong.

If your employer doesn't want his employees getting involved in altercations with the customers, he doesn't have to allow it.

Yep. Your employer has no control over what customers say and how they act. If the employer wants to throw the jerks out of the store, he may. But that's his perogative, not yours. Plus, if you respond in kind, you're just sinking to their level.