Employee fired for apprehending shoplifter www.privateofficer.com

ANN ARBOR MI. DEC 29, 2007

THIS ITEM IS MAKING IT'S WAY ACROSS THE INTERNET, SO WE ARE CHIMING IN.......

FROM A RETAIL LOSS PREVENTION STAND POINT......

John Schultz says he lost his job at Whole Foods Market in Ann Arbor after he tried to stop a shoplifter from making a getaway. But the company says he went too far and violated a policy that prohibits employees from physically touching a customer - even if that person is carrying a bag of stolen goods.
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.
Some in the retail security field are asking; Since when is a shoplifter considered a customer?

The guy apprehended someone trying to steal from his employer. We do have the right to make a citizen’s arrest and hold a suspected criminal until police arrive. Thanks to the stupidity of the manager, the thief got away with an unknown amount of store merchandise, although over $300 in a store tote bag was recovered. Schultz had the shoplifter in custody but was ordered to release him by the manager. It’s retail theft — shoplifting — that helps drive up costs for everyone who actually pays for their merchandise.
The guy got away, needless to say, and is still at large. I doubt if he will be apprehended any time soon.

OUR VIEW; Many retailers including Walmart, Home Depot, Target and others have a strict policy that only persons employed in their loss prevention department can make a "Stop" on a shoplifter. Persumably because they have been trained as to when and how to make the apprehension and the liability involved. And there is a lot of liability involved in making that stop.

However in this case, the employee responded to assist his manager after he had clocked out and was asked to by the store manager who was actually making the apprehension. He did not iniate the apprehension and was doing so as a regular Joe, not an employee.

He may have grounds to file a complaint with the EEOC for wrongful termination or even a lawsuit could be filed since he was asked to assist and did so as a non-employee. Had he been on th clock, and he decided to go after a shoplifter knowing that company policy did not allow it, then he could be terminated for that violation and it would hold up on appeal or during an unemployment hearing.

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