Home Depot to employees: Catch shoplifters and you'll get fired

[Danny Tse]

From Yahoo News

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."

Bob 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. 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," he said.

The letter said Stewart and the others were fired because "he 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 Eyewitness News 5 an e-mail saying 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.

OK, I will be "shopping" for some power tools at HD this weekend.

[Skynut]

Me too, I did not realize how cheap home improvements could be.

[zombie boy 2000]

Looks like I will finally be able to tackle some of those projects around the house this weekend. I may even go all "cat burglar" on 'em and tip-toe my way into and out of the store.... with heavy lumber under one arm and a table saw under the other.

[Bill Ayotte]

No kidding....What a sack...The next press release will say they are raising prices because of excessive losses due to shoplifting....

[MrNightly]

Ya, this same thing goes for Lowes. I got so pissed off, only the Store Manager can call the District manager to see if he can call the police if there is a crime... just not cool. If you wanted to take something from a store and walk out the door, nobody can stop you. They encourage you to say, "Have a nice day..." and that's it.

Sometimes I think a bunch of retards run these stores.

[ohskigod]

might be a whistle blower issue, although nothing was reported against home depot, if one takes action to report illegal activity, you cant be fired for it, at least in NJ, but I think its a federal law too.

frikkin wierd ?!?!??!

[WilliamM2]

I'm thinking it's for liability reasons. If one of the shoplifters hurts or kills the employee, and he is on company time, it's lawsuit time.

[venomclan]

Isn't it freakin sad when our society is so afraid of attorneys that we are rendered helpless.

Home Depot - The company itself has taken a nose dive while the recently ousted CEO walks away with over $200 Million.

Try and find a manager at any given moment at Lowes or HD.

My family recently went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. We had a large party and when the steaks arrived, one was way undercooked for what the person ordered and sent it back to the kitchen to recook. We all finished eating while that person never received their meal. We then were told that when food is sent back to the kitchen, only the manager can deliver it back to the table by company policy. Thus, someone did not get to eat because there is only one manager in a busy store, a weeknight also.

Great policy and they will now be avoided for life.
V

[PhantomOG]

Its not just Home Depot, I'm willing to bet almost all corporate run stores have a similar policy.

Back when I was in high school, I worked part time at a Suncoast video store in the mall. We were not allowed to confront shoplifters at all. All we could do was tip toe around the subject and try to let them know we saw them. However, we were not allowed to leave the store at all in pursuit, and the only recourse was to call mall security, not the police. For such a small store, I think it was well over $1,000 a month in lost merchandise.

Blame the courts and lawyers...

[Face]

I was a store detective and loss prevention manager for a few years in the mid 90's.
Employees weren't allowed to apprehend shoplifters either, they could only assist us with a stop if we felt we needed them. Even the door guards(greeters) weren't allowed to make official stops. They could ask to see your receipt and that's it. If you refused they couldn't do a thing about it. As for chasing perps off grounds, that wasn't permitted either, at least in our reports. :D The only one I chased off the property was a $974 bust. It appeared that it may have been over $1,000(grand larceny in NY), so there was no way I was letting him go.

[Shizelbs]

Wow, good job HD. Pretty much just asking to get ripped off.

[NeilGabriel]

might be a whistle blower issue, although nothing was reported against home depot, if one takes action to report illegal activity, you cant be fired for it, at least in NJ, but I think its a federal law too.

frikkin wierd ?!?!??!

that's why they created employment lawyers, eh? No federal law on this for non-federal employees, unless it is OSHA violation, or wage and hour....

[Danny Tse]

Does Home Depot carry Bosch cordless drills?

[Demiurge]

I'm thinking it's for liability reasons. If one of the shoplifters hurts or kills the employee, and he is on company time, it's lawsuit time.

DING DING DING

This isn't new, or even new to Home Depot. It's very strange, but they really don't want you screwing with shop lifters.

[PhantomOG]

Its cheaper to let what's stolen go than to pay for lawyers and settlements of the shoplifters that decide to sue for whatever bogus reason.

If it makes financial sense, how can you fault them? Its a public company and the bottom line is all that matters.

[Bamadude]

This is why Walmart has under cover security guards. HD at least needs to have one person dedicated and trained to respond to shoplifters. Otherwise they're just pushovers asking for it. it's the principle of the matter imo.

[michael_w]

Obviously they don't want their employees apprehending the shoplifters (I mean taking them down and waiting for police), but all the guy did was call the police. That's pretty crazy to me...

At my previous job one employee nearly lost his job because he tackled a shoplifter. It seemed to be a mixed reaction from the managers - the usual, well you did a great job but we're mad at you.

[BaggedLancer]

Does Home Depot carry Bosch cordless drills?

Yes.


Thankfully we have a newly built home depot and it has the really big push carts!

[Serendipity]

Obviously they don't want their employees apprehending the shoplifters (I mean taking them down and waiting for police), but all the guy did was call the police. That's pretty crazy to me...

That's crazy - like you said all the guy did was call the police and gets fired?

If I were the manager I would say "good job" to the employee.

[Bamadude]

it's just not American to watch a thief take stuff no matter how much red tape you wrap around the idea

[treitz3]

I was at one of the Charlotte HD's and witnessed a 50 year old (or so) man just non nonchalantly walk in between the contractors checkout and the Contractor's help desk. At least six or seven employees were in a 20 foot area of this man walking out. I told one of my employees to go get the gentleman's license plate #'s a couple of minutes after I notified the register operator of what had just happened. This fella proceeded to take about 5 full minutes [taking his time, mind you] loading his van. I was watching everything while I was in line.

This guy didn't walk out with a drill, or a screwdriver, or a light fixture.......no, he walks out with 3 4x8 peices of 3/4" plywood, the biggest box of screws HD carries, something in a big box [about the size of a normal cooler], couple of peices of 2x4's and lord only knows what was on the other side of the biggest cart HD has for contractors.

Judging from this guy's weight and the way he walked, he probably couldn't run more than 100 feet or so without being winded, so I knew that they would get this guy.

End result....after I asked for the head of security....magically he appeared right in front of me. He was watching the freakin' van pull off.

Two days later, I asked the head of security if the man was in fact stealing. His answer was yes, and that they had a video of his raid of the store, isle by isle. No further comment. So a couple of days later I caught up with the register operator and she said the same thing, but if she saw him again, that she couldn't do anything about it. She said that it was store policy "in fear for retribution from the criminal and HD didn't want the liability", and added "for the safety of customers and employees".

So, I guess it's a free for all!

Idiots.

[F1nut]

I'm going to sue HD because their hands off policy regarding shoplifters is costing me more money to shop there.

[Bill Ayotte]

I'm going to sue HD because their hands off policy regarding shoplifters is costing me more money to shop there.

EXACTLY!

[Dennis Gardner]

HD doesn't have enough attorneys to fight shoplifters lawsuits due to them being tied up with the customer death cases from falling inventory. I'm waiting for a case to hit the right/wrong judge and see HD's inventory practices take a direct hit. Wait until they have to store all extra inventory in a different building instead of overhead...............then the cost of shopping doubles.

[Polk65]

As suggested in earlier posts... specifically #7 and #9

Liability, lawsuits, lawyers.

While it's macho to chase crime or take the law into your hands (remnants from the frontier days and movies) it's not too smart. I have worked in several retail stores and can attest that this practice is widespread. With the companies I worked for, sales associates were highly discouraged from not only thinking of following a suspect but from watching them. Instead, the common course was to contact a member of management "trained" in the ninja art of secretly observing, following protocol, then contacting police. I was one of these tools and even then it was a PITA.

Aside from the three L's mentioned earlier, there is always the chance/probability that the perp or accomplice has something in their possession that can cause you to have a really bad day. I had a pistol held less than an arms length form my stomach during the course of a robbery. This happened over 10 years ago but still haunts me. To this day I consider myself on borrowed time.

In the end, it is cheaper for the businesses not to have to pay your medical bills, lawsuit brought by the perp or the "bad" publicity that it's not safe to shop there.

[bobman1235]

This is how I know I live in a ****ty neighborhood - all the Home Depots around me have police officers posted at the exit.

I'm considering going out to the boonies and stealing some **** after reading this.

[THX 3417]

If you go around shoplifting you’ll be spending some time in the NICK!:(

[Skynut]

The nick?

[THX 3417]

Yeah, the NICK mate not nice place to be in.:(

[exalted512]

Sucks, but its true. Theres so many laws concerning this issue its not funny. God forbid someone didnt actually steal something or they get rid of it before you get to them, then youre getting sued for false imprisonment and a host of other things. Just not worth the liability anymore. I wish I wouldve known this before I bought my Makita 18V impact though.
-Cody