Fired for stopping shoplifter
Grocery worker fired for stopping shoplifter
Comment: An excerpt hardly does justice to this story! Please read the whole article! Grocery worker hearken to his manager's call and stops a shoplifter ... and is fired for touching him. Unbelievable. Whole Foods is a little too "socially conscious"!
Excerpt:
Schultz says he had just punched out for a break at 7 p.m. on Sunday when he heard a commotion at the front door of the store, 3135 Washtenaw Ave. He said he came to the aid of the manager who yelled for help in stopping a shoplifter. Schultz, the manager and another employee cornered the shoplifter between two cars in the parking lot.
Schultz said he told the shoplifter he was making a citizens arrest and to wait for the police to arrive, but the shoplifter broke away from the group and ran across Washtenaw Avenue and toward a gas station at the corner of Huron Parkway.
Before the man could cross Huron Parkway, Schultz caught up and grabbed the man's jacket and put his leg behind the man's legs. When the manager arrived at the intersection, Schultz said, the manager told him to release the shoplifter, and he complied, and the shoplifter got away.
Schultz said he was called to the store's office the next day, on Christmas Eve, and was fired because he violated a company policy prohibiting employees from having any physical contact with a customer.
Kate Klotz, a company spokesperson, said the policy is clear and listed in a booklet that all employees have to acknowledge that they received before they can start work.
HT: Freakonomics (NYTimes)
I suggest: Shop at Wal-Mart ... (boycott Whole Foods) ... and please someone hire John Schultz!
How screwed up is it that that they consider a shoplifter a "customer?" Last time I checked, a customer was someone who gave you their money, not someone who took yours.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a lawyer, but I've heard that most places discourage stopping shoplifters. Businesses are afraid their employees will overreact and do something the shoplifter will sue them for.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked retail, I ran after one customer. He made it to his car with some friends before I could stop him. After returning to the store, there was a retired cop who told me never to do that again. He said try and grab as much information as you can about the person and call the cops. His reasoning was, you have no idea what the shoplifter will do. And your life is far more valuable than anything a store could ever sell. So don't risk your life for any thing a store may sell.
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