There was some bad news for a Lululemon sportswear store in Georgia last month. Like so many other retail outlets selling expensive items, the store was invaded by a group of mass looters wearing hoodies and masks. The group immediately began snatching up clothing items and tucking them away before heading for the doors. Two women who were working at the store gamely attempted to stop the robbery, ordering the looters to drop the goods, but they were ignored. Once the robbers had departed, they called the police. But the news was even worse for the employees. After the company investigated, the two women were fired. They were told that they had violated the company’s “zero tolerance policy” dictating how such situations should be handled. (The Daily Wire)
Two women say they were fired by Lululemon after trying to stop thieves ransacking an Atlanta-area store and calling police to report the robbery last month.
The former employees, Rachel Rogers and Jennifer Ferguson, said they were told they violated the “athleisure” company’s “zero-tolerance policy” upon being let go in the weeks that followed the incident, according to local NBC affiliate 11Alive.
“We are not supposed to get in the way. You kind of clear path for whatever they’re going to do,” Ferguson said, “And then, after it’s over, you scan a QR code. And that’s that. We’ve been told not to put it in any notes, because that might scare other people. We’re not supposed to call the police, not really supposed to talk about it.”
One of the women, Rachel Rogers, recorded a video of the robbery. You can watch it in the tweet below.
Two staffers lost their jobs after confronting thieves at Lululemon
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 29, 2023
In case you were wondering if this might have been some sort of misunderstanding, this was an experienced and organized group of criminals. They were arrested the very next day while attempting to rob a different store. They were charged with multiple felonies and held in custody.
Making matters worse, it’s not entirely clear which specific store policy the women supposedly violated. They claim that they were fired for calling the cops, but another outlet reports that they were discharged because they “confronted and recorded” the thieves. The store claims its policy is designed to ensure “the safety and security” of customers and employees.
But they won’t even allow anyone to collect video of a crime in progress? (God forbid they make the job of the police any easier.) I suppose I can understand not wanting the staff to physically accost or interfere with looters in case they turn out to be armed. But recording them on video is prohibited? While we’re on that subject, why did Rogers have to use her own phone to record a video? Shouldn’t a store like Lululemon which sells such expensive sportswear have a security camera inside the store?
This is just insanity. The desire to keep the workers safe is completely understandable. But when you have workers who are willing to step forward in the middle of a crisis and at least make some effort to protect the store’s bottom line and help authorities to solve a crime, you should be rewarding them.
Or at a bare minimum, you could just thank them and caution them not to take that sort of risk in the future. But you don’t fire them. That was Rachel Rogers’ sole source of income. Now she’s burned through all of her savings to cover her regular bills and is waiting for unemployment benefits.
Congratulations to Lululemon. This entire story paints a picture where you are trying to protect the criminals. You have set yourselves up as the latest example of a liberal corporate culture that treats the lawless like heroes and the law-abiding like zeros. And people are growing very tired of it.
