A Waitrose employee was sacked from his role at a Clapham Junction store after intervening when a shoplifter tried to steal some Easter eggs, before throwing a piece of chocolate in frustration
A Waitrose worker has been fired after trying to stop a shoplifter from stealing a bunch of luxury Easter eggs.
Walker Smith, 54, was a Waitrose employee for 17 years before being sacked. He revealed he was “crying inside” when bosses showed him the exit door, because the retailer was like his family.
Mr Smith was a shop assistant at a Waitrose branch in Clapham Junction, south London. He was carrying out his usual role when a shopper told him that someone had filled up a bag with eggs.
The usual protocol is to avoid approaching shoplifters, and to report it to a higher up. But after seeing repeated thefts over the years, Mr Smith sprang into action, he said.
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He confronted the thief and snatched their bag. There was reportedly a brief struggle, before the bag ripped and several Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs fell onto the floor. The shoplifter made a run for the exit, but Mr Smith picked up a piece of broken Easter egg and “threw it out of frustration” toward some trollies – and not toward the thief – he said.
He was reprimanded by his boss at the time, but a few weeks later, he was hauled into a meeting with store managers. Mr Smith said he made a final plea for forgiveness, but was ultimately told he was being sacked.
He told the Guardian: “I tried to stay strong and I didn’t say a word but inside I was crying. They led me out the back door by the bins. I just felt demoralised.
“Waitrose is like my family. My friends are there. I was there for 17 years, I must have been doing something right. I’m not a bad or violent or aggressive person. I just got frustrated seeing this day in and day out and not seeing Waitrose do much about it.”
Mr Smith later thanked supporters on his personal Facebook page. He said his priority for now is to find a new job.
He wrote: “Thank you everyone for getting in touch with kind messages and support, I really appreciate it. I didn’t think it would blow up like this but now it has my priority is getting a job.
“I’m based in Clapham Junction so if you or anyone you know is looking for a reliable, conscientious employee please reach out. I was at Waitrose for 17 years so warehousing, customer service – except dealing with shoplifters(!), or similar would be amazing.”
Waitrose, meanwhile, said the safety of its staff was very important, which is why it had certain policies for responding to shoplifters. Staff had previously been injured when confronting thieves, and it would never want to be in a position to put workers in harm’s way.
A Waitrose statement read: “The safety and security of our Partners and customers couldn’t be more important to us, and we have policies in place to protect both. We’ve had incidents where our Partners have been hospitalised when challenging shoplifters. Luckily, they have always recovered, but that might not always be the case.
“There is a serious danger to life in tackling shoplifters. We refuse to put anyone’s life at risk and that’s why we have policies in place that are very clearly understood and must be strictly followed.
“As a responsible employer, we never want to be in a position where we are notifying families of a tragedy because someone tried to stop a theft. Nothing we sell is worth risking lives for.
“The reporting on this does not cover the full facts of the situation. While we would never be able to discuss an individual case, we can assure you the correct process is being followed, which includes a standard appeals procedure.
“We have campaigned for some time for more to be done to protect shop workers from offenders, including retail crime being made into a specific stand alone offence.”
