Posted on 06/06/2007 10:53:36 AM PDT by Cagey
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. -- A former Home Depot employee said the company fired him and three other workers because they helped police catch several suspected shoplifters in May.
Midwest City Police said the men helped officers catch suspected shoplifters as they tried to run from a store with lawn equipment.
An internal memo from Home Depot outlines that associates cannot accuse, detain, chase or call the police on any customer for shoplifting. However, one of the fired employees said the company is selective in enforcing that policy.
"The loss-prevention guy at our Shields (Boulevard) store turned around and told me all we need to do is tell the shoplifter to have a good day as they leave the store. I said that just doesn't make sense," former employee Bob Stewart said.
Stewart said what really doesn't make sense is a termination letter Home Depot gave him and three other employees after they helped police catch the shoplifters.
"We saw them with the merchandise. We saw them run out of the store. I never kept my eyes off of them," Stewart said. "Then when we asked them for a receipt, and that's when they dropped the merchandise and they kept running. One guy still had a chainsaw while he was running, and that's when the cops tackled him."
The letter said Stewart and the others were fired because they "pursued and assisted in the apprehension of suspected shoplifters."
Stewart said all he did was call police, something he's done before. Less than eight months ago, he said that he received a letter -- a commendation letter -- for helping police catch a thief trying to steal $2,500 worth of wire.
On the top of the letter, written in bold letters was "Great job, Bob."
Home Depot officials said in an e-mail to Oklahoma City TV station KOCO that they have "standard operating procedures in place for situations like this," and that "from time to time, we find inconsistent execution in our stores."
However, they added that they do not discuss personnel matters and will not comment on this specific case.
Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said he won't comment on the store policy, but said they would probably not have caught the suspects or recovered the property or the stolen car they drove if it had not been for the help of these four employees.
Clabes said he is considering giving the four men letters of appreciation for helping catch the suspects.
FWIW
I saw Tom and spoke with him sometimes
A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading to the conviction of a gunman who fatally shot an assistant manager Friday at a Home Depot in Tustin.
The robber entered the store and demanded money from a cashier. When confronted at the register, he gunned down Tom Egan, police said.
Egan, 40, a former Marine sergeant, was taken to a hospital, where he died from a single gunshot wound, Sgt. Jeff Blair said.
The robber fled with an unknown amount of cash in a minivan, which a second suspect drove.
Witnesses said that the license plates had been removed, Blair said.
The crime occurred about 10 a.m. at the store at 2782 El Camino Real in the Tustin Marketplace shopping center.
Much of the incident was captured on surveillance cameras. The robber was dressed in a painter’s jumpsuit and dust mask, Blair said.
Egan had worked for Home Depot for 13 years and was described by colleagues as hardworking and energetic.
“Tom was respected and admired by his colleagues for his spirit and energy on the job as well as his work in numerous community service projects in the local area,” Bruce Merino, the company’s western division president, said in a statement.
“We extend our condolences to his family and friends and plan to honor his memory in a special way.”
The company provided grief counselors to employees at the store.
What a bunch of political crap HOME DEPORT has turned into lately.
Excuse me but my wife and I are ready to run out to the local HOME DEPORT as I need a new mower, weed eater and a few other items.
I will pick out what we need and she can load it into the car.
Or maybe one of their employees will lend a hand, ha.
With those losses, they could hire half a dozen cops.
ATTENTION DEMOCRAT VOTERS:
Free stuff available at Home Depot....
This is wrong on so many levels. As stevie said, the job isn’t worth that much.
stockholders take note
I’m in IT today and had no clue I nailed that one like that! Sometimes the casual customer can see things that execs don’t want to.
Hey everybody! Free stuff from Home Depot...
Screw that! I'm going for one of their tractor trailers with the piggyback forklift. I used to have a CDL, I can still drive one of those things.
“Sounds just like Southland Corp. 7-Eleven clerks are supposed to hand over money and merchandise and then stand patiently behind the counter while the criminal murders them”.
This is what the fear of litigation accomplishes. Perhaps the next time it will be suspected terrorist and the employees will be too fearful to call attention.
I never have understood how you can do a lousy job, essentially get fired, and make $200 million out of the deal. I need to get me one of those CEO positions, I’ll pick up the want ads on my way home from work today.
In some places, there are so many shoplifters in the stores that honest customers will not shop there. I have worked in such a place. If you worked on a Saturday night, the only people that you saw were bands of thugs cruising through looking for opportunities to steal. One good thing was that the store manager was not afraid to confront shoplifters. People working the floor were supposed to call security, and they could not confront suspected shoplifters. However, we were encouraged to give “good customer service” to any suspected thieves, meaning we could keep trying to “help” them until they either left emptyhanded or security got involved.
I guess Home depot joins a list of companies that I won’t do business with.
I would rather not associate myself with stupid people.
I was at Home Depot two days ago and the police were leading a man out in handcuffs. He did not look like an employee.
(s)Home Depot announces open looting season. (/s)
“tell the shoplifter to have a good day as they leave the store”
....crap! I wish they did that when I was a kid......
“An internal memo from Home Depot outlines that associates cannot accuse, detain, chase or call the police on any customer for shoplifting. However, one of the fired employees said the company is selective in enforcing that policy.”
Maybe becuz the shoplifters were possibly...muslim? (Hey, it had to be said) ;)
That's what they told me when I went to work for Sears a couple of years ago.
Maybe these guys will get jobs from business owners who CARE about merchandise 'shrinkage'.
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