Blaze News original: Meet retail workers who got fired for confronting shoplifters — even for just recording heists on video

Big Lots managers reportedly fired for trying to grab cart from alleged shoplifters: 'At least four to five times a day this happens'

Lily Oxford — a single mom and former manager at Big Lots — told KGET-TV she and another store manager were fired after they confronted an alleged shoplifter in the parking lot of a store in Oildale, California, on April 5, 2023. Oildale is about 10 minutes north of Bakersfield.

Oxford told the station her intention was to retrieve the shopping cart used to transport 15 jugs containing allegedly stolen Tide laundry detergent, not to get back the merchandise itself. She said the store got 40 brand-new carts for Christmas but were down to just five by March — and that customers aren't allowed to take the carts outside. If they do, Oxford said employees are instructed to retrieve them.

"So many customers see [shoplifting] happen on a daily basis," she told the station. "At least four to five times a day this happens whether they go out the front door or whether they go out the back door ... at least. Bare minimum."

Big Lots reportedly declined KGET's multiple requests for comment. But if the company didn't appreciate the former managers' efforts, other shoppers apparently did.

"I had people, at least three different people out here, applauding me because it happens so much," Oxford — who started a GoFundMe to help with her expenses as she searches for a new job — told KGET. You can see a video report about the incident here.

King Soopers employee terminated for recording video of thieves stealing cart full of goods — which helped police identify crooks

A King Soopers grocery store employee was fired after he recorded video showing three males loading stolen laundry detergent into a vehicle in June 2023.

"Damn, these guys are good — look at 'em, stealing," Santino Burrola narrated in the video recorded in the parking lot outside of a King Soopers in Centennial, Colorado, on Father's Day. "Really, bro? You got to resort to this? The economy's not that bad. Better get it while the gettin's good."

As the vehicle drove off, Burrola yanked off a piece of aluminum foil covering the license plate of the getaway vehicle. He called police and shared the video on social media. His efforts helped police identify the driver, whom cops later arrested. Police were still searching for the other two males.

Burrola, a former military police officer, told KCNC-TV that when he returned to work following the theft, he was suspended. Then during a meeting with the company that included a union representative, he was fired.

Apparently, King Soopers officials believe Burrola violated an employee policy that instructs workers to not intervene in theft. In a statement, the company refused to comment on the matter directly but said, "We have security measures in place to help prevent crime and de-escalate such confrontations to minimize the risk to our associates. While we are unable to comment on personnel matters, we value our hardworking associates and their safe return home."

"Did I feel that I overstepped boundaries? Not really because I didn’t physically touch them or alter their shoplifting in any way, I just revealed the license plate to help the community to be aware, the police be aware and to help better catch them," Burrola told KUSA-TV.

Burrola was fired without severance pay, according to a GoFundMe established to help him. You can view a video report about the incident here.

Sporting goods retail chain reportedly cans store employees for chasing shoplifter who stole gun

Three employees with a Louisiana sporting goods store reportedly were fired for chasing a thief who stole a firearm from their Metairie store on Dec. 16, 2023.

Michelle Sutton, a team leader at Academy Sports + Outdoors, told WGNO-TV she jumped into action when she heard a distressing call over her store radio about the theft.

"I just took off," Sutton said. She and two other store associates chased the suspect — but they were too late. The thief was long gone.

Four days later, Sutton said she was informed by Academy's corporate firearm compliance personnel that she was fired, along with her two colleagues. The trio violated company policy, which according to WGNO states that employees are prohibited from pursuing or restraining shoplifting suspects.

Sutton said she and her colleagues remained on the sidewalk by the store in hopes of obtaining information about the shoplifter for police, such as a vehicle tag number.

"I know my store director had said that they want you to be able to get the make and model of a vehicle, you know, maybe a direction ... the vehicle went," she explained.

Neither the store nor the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office responded to Blaze News' request for comment.

Former Big Lots manager says he was fired after following shoplifter outside store in attempt to help cops locate suspect

A former manager at a Big Lots store in the Rochester, New York, area said he was fired after following a shoplifter — who took a swing at an employee — outside the store and into the parking lot to help police locate the suspect.

Pat Guider told WHEC-TV during an interview at his Irondequoit home that he saw the shoplifter take a swing at his assistant manager during the May 10 incident: “What I saw is that he took a swing, like a punch at [the assistant manager],” Guider said while making an uppercut motion with a clenched fist.

Guider also told WHEC that’s the only reason he followed the shoplifter out of the store: “I let people who shoplift leave the store every day. Every day. We just put it in the system like they ask us to do. This was an assault. This wasn’t shoplifting. This was an assault.”

Guider told the station he followed the male at a distance through the parking lot of the store while relaying his location to 911 so police might catch the suspect.

The suspect got away — and Guider told WHEC he was fired over the incident. The station said its reporter found no phone number for Big Lots' CEO or communication chief, so the reporter emailed the company three times — but Big Lots had not responded as of the publication of the station's story.

WHEC said a poster in the Big Lots lunchroom warns employees to “never leave the store to pursue, detain, or identify a customer.”

The station's reporter asked labor lawyer Paul Keneally at Underberg & Kessler how Guider could have been fired for trying "to help police track down a shoplifter ... how does that happen?”

Keneally told WHEC "the company is probably considering the liability of any sort of interaction between the perpetrator and store employee.”

The attorney added to the station that likely explains why Big Lots has "a rule in place that the employees are not to do anything, and it’s unfortunate because it sounds like this person was trying to do the right thing."

Guider told WHEC, "I did not put myself in jeopardy. I did not put any shoppers in jeopardy."

Now without a job — and with two sons in college — Guider noted to the station that he and his wife are trying to figure out how to get health insurance. What's more, at age 62, Guider added to WHEC he's not sure how easy it will be to find another job — but he's resting on a power greater than himself: “The good thing is we have a huge faith in God, a huge faith in God, and everything will work out. It’s just going to be difficult. It’s going to be difficult."

Lululemon CEO doubles down on decision to oust two employees for following crooks outside store after they stole thousands of dollars in merchandise

Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald defended his company's decision to fire two retail store employees who engaged with thieves in 2023.

Two Lululemon workers — Jennifer Ferguson and Rachel Rogers — confronted three thieves who stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from the athletic wear retail store's Peachtree Corners location in Georgia.

You can view a video report about the incident here, which includes cellphone video Rogers recorded of the theft in progress. It isn't clear from the cellphone clip if Ferguson or Rogers physically engaged with the shoplifters, but the video appears to show the thieves being followed outside as the crooks run to a getaway vehicle.

Thanks to Rogers and Ferguson, police apprehended the thieves, WXIA-TV reported, and they were facing felony robbery charges.

The employees said they were given little explanation for their termination, other than for violating a zero-tolerance policy for confronting store thieves. Lululemon later confirmed this, telling Blaze News that Ferguson and Rogers were fired for "knowingly violating our zero-tolerance policy related to physically engaging with the perpetrators which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk."

Speaking on CNBC, McDonald justified firing the employees, whom Lululemon call "educators."

"We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators on around engaging during a theft," McDonald said. "Why? Because we put the safety of our team [and] of our guests front and center."

According to McDonald, company policy directs Lululemon employees to allow thieves to steal at will: "It's only merchandise at the end; [employees are] trained to step back, let the theft occur, know that there’s technology and cameras, and we're working with law enforcement." He added that "unfortunately, in this situation the educators knowingly broke the policy, engaged with the thieves across multiple points — including following them out of the store — so post investigation and the zero-tolerance policy, which is well-known, that was what resulted in the termination."

McDonald also dispelled the claim that the employees were fired because they called police: "Just to be clear, our educators are able to call the police. We train them to step back. It's about their safety, and we take that policy seriously because we've had instances, and we have seen in other retailers instances, where employees step in and are hurt or, worse, killed."

68-year-old Lowe's employee fired for trying to stop shoplifter who repeatedly punched her in the face — but that's not the end of the story

Lowe’s employee Donna Hansbrough tried to thwart a shoplifting attempt of more than $2,000 in merchandise from the store in Rincon, Georgia, on June 25, 2023. Three suspects reportedly loaded up a shopping cart and exited the home improvement store with the stolen items.

The Rincon Police Department said in a statement that Hansbrough "attempted to stop one of the subjects by grabbing the shopping cart. Hansbrough did not at any time make contact with any person. The cart that Donna grabbed was in the possession of subject Takyah Berry. After Donna grabbed the cart, Berry struck Donna in the face three times causing Donna’s right eye to swell and blacken." Police identified the other two suspects as Jarmar Lawton and Joseph Berry, who's Takyah Berry's uncle.

Police said they arrested Lawton but were still searching for the other two suspects. Authorities said the trio stole merchandise worth $2,101.

Police said Lowe's fired Hansbrough for attempting to stop the theft and that she violated company policy against intervening with shoplifters. Hansbrough had worked for Lowe's for 13 years.

Hansbrough told the Effingham Herald, "They say that if you see somebody stealing something out the door, not to pursue, not to go out. I lost it. I grabbed the cart. I don't actually remember going out, but I did. And I grabbed the cart that had the stolen items in [it]." She added, "I just got tired of seeing things get out the door. I just ... I lost it. I basically lost all the training. Everything they tell you to do, I just ... I just lost it. I didn’t expect to get terminated. Maybe a reprimand or a suspension."

A GoFundMe campaign was launched to "directly help Ms. Donna with any bills while she attempts to find new employment after being fired by Lowe’s for something she clearly had no control over." You can view a video report about her initial firing here.

Soon after news of Hansbrough's firing went into viral outrage overdrive, Lowe's walked it all back. The Effingham Herald said Lowe's acknowledged that "after senior management became aware of the incident and spoke to Donna Hansbrough today, we are reinstating her job, and we are pleased that she has accepted the offer to return to Lowe's."

As for the two other suspects, police said Joseph Berry was apprehended in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 22. Takyah Berry was finally arrested Sept. 7 and charged with robbery, battery, exploitation or inflicting pain to an elder person, and wearing a mask, hood, or device to conceal identity.

Safeway sacks single mom after 22 years of service because she thwarted shoplifting. But judge has different opinion.

The attorney for Antoinette Baez said Safeway grocery stores fired her after she stopped a shoplifter who in 2023 tried to exit the San Mateo, California, store with more than $500 in merchandise. The retail chain's policy is that employees should not touch shoplifters, according to attorney Neil Eisenberg.

Baez said she didn't touch the shoplifter but tried to grab at the stolen grocery bags. When the thief tried to punch at her, Baez's supervisor David Arevalos tried to protect Baez. The woman left without any of the items she was trying to steal.

Initially, Baez said the store's director was compassionate and caring — then Safeway fired Arevalos for getting physical with the thief, and then the store fired Baez for misconduct and said she wouldn't get unemployment benefits because of it.

Baez said she had worked for Safeway for 22 years since she was 16 years old and had been an exemplary employee the whole time. "When you hear that, it just felt like a punch to the gut," she said. "Devastated, coming from a place of transparency and honesty, that it just, it somehow worked against me."

Baez, a single mom, decided to fight back legally. She initially lost her lawsuit but won on appeal earlier this year. An administrative Employment Development Department judge found Baez was not on the clock when she confronted the shoplifter and was wrongly terminated. Baez will receive a year's worth of unemployment benefits as a result of the ruling.

Her attorney had strong words for Safeway and its unfair treatment of his client: "A judge said she was fired for doing her job, and basically said the state of California stands behind her, and she beat Safeway in a state proceeding."

Eisenberg said it was no different than a citizen's arrest because Baez was not clocked in to work. He also blasted the store for its actions: "Safeway has not reached out to her. They have not offered her job back. They have not offered to pay her lost wages for a year."

He also accused the company of treating its employees worse than retail thieves: "Safeway’s a food bank for thieves. You are better off stealing from Safeway than paying for your goods or your groceries because when you pay for your goods or your groceries, you are absorbing the cost of shoplifting."

Eisenberg said he plans to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the store and will ask for $1 million in punitive damages.

"If you're shoplifting, you get to go free, no consequences," Eisenberg continued. "This is probably the dumbest, cruelest incident I've seen in my entire practice."

Safeway did not respond to a request for a comment from KTVU. You can view a video report about the incident here.

Pair of baristas beat down idiots allegedly trying to rob Starbucks with fake guns — and company says thanks by showing them the door

Starbucks fired a pair of baristas who beat up two males who allegedly tried to rob one of the mammoth coffee chain's stores in St. Louis in late 2023.

Police said 37-year-old Joshua Noe and 35-year-old Marquise Porter-Doyle rushed into the store Dec. 17 with what looked like real handguns and demanded the employees open up a cash register and safe. When they couldn't, Noe allegedly hit an employee in the head with his gun, which shattered — and that's when the victims realized the guns were fake.

Two of the baristas and some customers beat down the two would-be robbers and held Noe until police arrived. Porter-Doyle escaped, but police caught up with him later and arrested him. The two alleged robbers were facing a combined 20 felony charges for robbery, attempted robbery, and assault

But instead of thanking the two employees, Starbucks fired them.

An attorney for the former barista Michael Harris says he's filing a lawsuit against Starbucks, according to the St. Louis Riverfront Times. The other fired barista is Devin Jones-Ransom. Attorney Ryan Krupp said "Harris complied with the robbers' demands until it was no longer an option for himself and others" and that his client acted out of fear that he might be killed.

“I just wanted to do the right thing as a person and as an employee," said Harris in a statement.

A representative for Starbucks released a statement about the lawsuit: "The safety and wellbeing of our partners (employees) and customers is always our first concern. All partners are expected to follow our carefully crafted protocols to ensure the safety of customers and partners during these situations."

Elderly Circle K clerk says she was terminated after trying to stop crook armed with knives who went behind counter while she was alone during night shift

An elderly Colorado woman told KCNC-TV in September 2022 she was fired for the job she held at a Circle-K convenience store for 16 years after her manager didn't believe her story that a crook she tried to stop one night two years prior was carrying knives.

Turns out the suspect reportedly pleaded guilty to menacing with a deadly weapon — and Mary Moreno decided to sue the store, the station said.

Moreno was working a night shift at the store on Oct. 4, 2020, when a man came in around 7 p.m. holding what she described as two hunting knives, the station reported. Moreno told the station the man asked for cigarettes — but soon it became clear he wasn't intending to pay for them.

"He kept insisting, 'You have to give them to me.' He said, 'You have to give them to me,'" she noted to KCNC.

After Moreno refused, she told the station the man came behind the counter — after which she put up resistance.

"I pushed his arm, you know?" Moreno told KCNC. "And when I pushed his arm, he took off."

Police later arrested Tyler Darren Wimmer in connection with the incident and charged him with aggravated robbery and menacing with a deadly weapon, the station said. He pleaded guilty to the menacing with a deadly weapon charge, KCNC said, citing a lawsuit filed on Moreno's behalf by the Rathod Mohamedbhi Law Firm. She told the station that despite video of the incident, eyewitness accounts, and Wimmer's arrest, her store manager didn't believe her story.

"He took me in the office, and he said, 'Well, I don't see a knife,' because he watched the video, I guess," Moreno recounted to KCNC. "And I said, 'Well, there was a knife.'"

Moreno's boss even insisted that she apologize, the station said, after which she refused and then was fired. KCNC reported that Moreno decided to sue the store: "I'm not doing it for money. I'm doing it because of the way they treat their employees."

KCNC said it reached out to Circle-K for comment but didn't hear back. You can view a video report about the incident here.

In the end, the lawsuit didn't work out. A federal judge ruled earlier this year that Circle K lawfully fired Moreno, and that she "does not explain why her statutory or common-law right to assert self-defense in the criminal context is related to her job-related duties at Circle K." Moreno's attorney said she plans to appeal.

Walmart allegedly sends worker packing for stepping foot outside store to confront shoplifters, putting her hand on stolen merchandise

A former Walmart worker in North Carolina alleged to Business Insider that the retail giant fired her in 2023 for stepping outside the store to confront shoplifters and putting her hand on stolen merchandise.

The worker told the outlet that her job was monitoring self-checkout, and two girls on the night of Nov. 4 rang up a $6.95 plastic storage container and "then they walked right past me." The former worker told Business Insider about Walmart's saying, "Do you know B.O.B. and L.I.S.A.?" She said B.O.B. is "bottom of the basket," and L.I.S.A. is "look inside, always."

She noted to the outlet, "So I followed them and asked them if I could go and look inside the tote. They declined and tried to push their cart past me. I used my finger and flipped the lid off to where I could see inside. It was half-full of stuff, and 90% of it was makeup. And I don't know if you know anything about cosmetics, but one little pencil is $10, so the value of that tote added up quickly."

The former worker said police were called, but the girls were let go and "the asset protection team at the store didn't do anything, either."

But a few days later, store higher-ups allegedly did something to the worker: They fired her over the "incident with the girls" and "went against policy by stepping out of the door of the store and because I grabbed the tote."

Despite this, the former worker told Business Insider that Walmart made employees at her store wear a badge that reads "how much shrinkage there has been" and that workers aren't doing their job to "stop theft."

"That's how it's gotten to be," the former worker told the outlet. "These companies want you to prevent shoplifting and theft. But I say: 'You're not giving us the tools to do what you want us to do.'"

Business Insider told Walmart that "while we are not discussing the details of a personnel matter, violating policies can lead to termination under our progressive disciplinary process."