A Bath and Body Works employee in Virginia was fired after attempting to thwart shoplifters by following them out of the store and subsequently being pepper-sprayed before alerting the police to the incident.
February 18 at Hampton’s Peninsula Town Center in Hampton, Virginia, an employee a the store reportedly took photos of alleged shoplifters with “bags of merchandise,” according to WAVY, which spoke with the employee who chose to remain anonymous.
The employee told the outlet that the thieves “filled them with products,” and added, “One girl turned to us and spoke. ‘Y’all have a good day. Peace out’ as they walked out the door without paying for any of the items.”
The shoplifters reportedly parked their vehicle near a Hampton Police field office located near the store and covered their license plate with plastic bags.
The employee said that she called one shoplifter a “thief” and told her that she was being recorded.
“I said you are on camera, and she said ‘I don’t give a s***,'” the employee said. “And you can guess what happened next.”
The employee was then allegedly pepper sprayed by the shoplifter and said that she “went into a defensive position,” adding, “I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t tell where I was.”
The former Bath and Body Works worker told the outlet that she filed a police report following the incident.
Shortly after the alleged theft and assault occurred, the employee said that the company terminated her because her actions violated company policy.
“I was told that I was going to be fired, and when I asked why, I was told because you are not allowed to go outside … following shoplifting suspects … and calling police,” she said. “I did not know that, and I did not understand.”
The Bath & Body Works Employee Code of Conduct tells employees that they are “responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect Bath & Body Works property under your control from theft, misuse, loss or damage.”
The employee maintained that she was within her right to contact the police because she sustained a personal injury while attempting to protect store merchandise. She told the outlet that she wants police to “find [the shoplifters] before they hurt someone else. If they did this to someone with asthma or [who is] elderly, they could have killed them.”
Last year, TPUSA reported that two Lululemon employees were similarly fired after attempting to stop shoplifters from robbing the storefront in Atlanta, Georgia.
