Lululemon CEO who fired employees for confronting thieves stands by decision: ‘It’s only merchandise’

Awful company. They’re not nice people.

I don’t understand why they’re fired but most retail employees in major corporations are taught today let them steal, do nothing.

Any employee calling the cops or acting like security is doing it for their own ego and benefit.

That place is for white liberal elitist pigs. Have you seen the prices for their crap no doubt made via slave labor in the third world?

I want free stuff. Can I just walk into a lululemon and take what I want?

I hope people start doing that and clean them out. Firing people for calling the police is the most ludicrous reaction.

By confronting the thieves they put their lives and customers lives in danger.

If conservatives want to protest, they ought to protest this. Decent employees fired for having a normal, human reaction.

Also, fuck this CEO.

A CEO should defend his workers.

They're better off being severed from that shitty company. Clearly they don't give a damn about their employees. They only care about their liability in a lawsuit, if their employees became injured or injured the thief or workman's compensation.

The employees had their hearts in the right place but it's ultimately stupid to risk your life for a company that thinks you're as disposable as it's marked up shitty merchandise.

Their lives are better being freed from retail hell.

[quote]I want free stuff. Can I just walk into a lululemon and take what I want?

According to the CEO - yes R4! Take your time. After all - it's only merchandise.

The fired employees didn't fight with the theieves, didn't try to snatch back the merchandise or even really argue with them.

They told the thieves to stop and then followed them out the store as they ran away. Yet, they get fired and CEO says they deserved it.

Retail workers are in short supply - especially good ones. The fired workers will easily get another job elsewhere and hopefully in a company which supports their workers. Easy stuff.

This is good for consumers to know about Lululemon's attitude towards their workers.

I heard you’re not even allowed to call the police if they rape or shoot at you

He made $15 million dollars last year.

He and the C suite could have parted with 2/3rds the salary and the workers can have a few dollars raise.

They're not doing the heavy lifting.

Well, text all your friends - Lululemon shit is free now! Woooo

You just know that if you test this out you will end up being taken down by a SWAT Team

They can't be seen to be calling the law on blacks.

I work for a big corporation and it’s part of our yearly compliance training and any violation of the policy can term your employment. You sign off that you understand. If you try to play cop and endanger yourself and others you can lose your job. Don’t like it don’t work there. I’m sure not taking a risk for my corporate overlords.

Former law enforcement here.

Brick and mortar stores do not want their employees engaging physically with thieves. The employee could get injured, could die, etc. Then who does the employee sue? The employer.

Loss prevention employees are there to document incidents (video) and turn it over to the DA or prosecutor. Yes, a loss prevention employee can confront (verbally) a thief as he tries to exit. But if the thief won't stop, that should be the end of it.

Only idiots wear their shit

When I worked in retail, they honestly didn't have to tell me to not attempt to stop thefts. They weren't paying me enough for all of that.

If they wanted to save pennies by not hiring a loss prevention team, I most certainly wasn't about to stick my neck out to stop people from stealing a cell phone charger. I absolutely did not give a shit. I was 19 going to school, and making 7.25/hr. My job was to ask people if they wanted paper or plastic for the shit they stole.

And you just know that if this employees try to sue for wrongful termination, SCOTUS will rule in favor of the corporation.

Keep on trollin', OP.

[quote] By confronting the thieves they put their lives and customers lives in danger.

You’re a retard.

No, r24. You are the retard, here.

They suck and they're cult members. I wouldn't shop or work there.

This employee did indeed get murdered trying to stop a theft.

Lululemon, that sounds fruity. Is that a gay company?

The CEO says "It's only merchandise". If it means so little to you, why aren't you giving it away?

Lululemon pays really well, in comparison to other chain clothing stores. I knew a girl who worked at one and she made somewhere around $27 dollars an hour and she wasn’t even a key holder.

R29 That’s a stupid logic. So they should give everything away because they value human life over merchandise?

You can tell who’s worked in retail / public and who hasn’t.

Most people tell you they don’t care if someone steals, they don’t get paid enough and it’s not worth the risk.

As I said, the only people who try and play Batman or security guard are people who do it for their ego.

I worked in retail from 18-23 and they always said if anyone steals, let them.

Why have a price if it’s free when walk out?

When you walk out *

[quote]That’s a stupid logic. So they should give everything away because they value human life over merchandise?

R31 The CEO is more afraid of bad publicity if the police are called. I see nothing in his comments about valuing human life.

That’s nothing. The Lululemon employee in this story was let go over confronting and killing a co-worker.

R35 Because it doesn’t have to be said.

Plus it’s all insured. Most companies have insurance policies over theft.

Plus shoplifting isn’t really reported so I don’t understand your bad publicity angle. Shoplifting isn’t exactly headline news.

I only recently learned how to pronounce this shitty company’s name. I thought it was Loo la mon (emphasis on the last syllable). That’s all I’ve got.

Lululemon's rules of engagement:

1. If they try to steal merchandise, don't do anything. Just report if after the fact.

2. If they commit a crime against you in the process, don't do anything. Just report it after the fact.

3. Please see our employee benefit, specifically for abortion. We support you after the Dodds decision!

I love comments from anti-Lululemon people! Why does that brand trigger you so much? Because you can’t afford it and feel excluded?

They were fired because the thieves were black and it just reinforces the stereotype that the majority of looters/shoplifters are black. Can't have that reported or made public.

Lululemon is far left and thus very 'woke.' A few years ago, they promoted an event about "decolonizing gender" and how to "resist capitalism."

[quote]“We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators on around engaging during a theft"

Who are the "educators" that he's referring to here? I hope that's not what they call the retail workers in their store...

Regardless, I want him in me, quite deeply!

r41 Lol wut.

I wonder if we'll get to the point with individual items in stores, or at lease pricey items, in which there is greater anti-theft technology installed? I'm thinking of how those shopping carts now have the wheels that lock when at the border of the Target parking lot, etc. preventing people from taking them off the property. Maybe there's a way one day where those current ink-exploding tags in clothes will work in a similar manner.

Lululemon won't do anything if you steal their stuff! Once shoplifters find a good fence to offlead their useless shit, it'll be a free for all at all their stores.

This is the same company where the CEO said they don't sell to fat people. Maybe that's what's keeping the stores from devastation. Plus how much can you get for overpriced yoga pants? Better off stealing Tide from CVS.

It’s interesting. The foundation of this is that the store is being robbed, not the individual. So while the individual is the one potentially being placed in harm’s way, the store has more rights than the individual. In essence you lose your right to react to a threat. For maybe $15 an hour? That’s bullshit. And still they whine about staffing shortages.

Unpopular opinion: if I worked for a retail store, I would vastly prefer to simply report theft than to be expected to confront the thieves and attempt to stop them. VASTLY.

I'm not risking my life for frau gear.

[quote]A CEO should defend his workers.

Which is exactly what he is doing, by enforcing company policy.

This is like the Free Stores that the Diggers use to run in the 60s

When I worked at a bookstore a frequent scam was some random person would bring in an expensive book (like 100$ or more) and return it without a receipt. Policy was to go ahead and honor the return and give a full refund. One of the employees lost his shit one day when dealing with an obvious scammer.

Looking back, I think it was hard to not feel resentful when you’re working retail for chump change and people just walk in and steal shit (or return stolen books for cash).

Working in retail is degrading enough. Paying customers can be incredibly obnoxious, aggressive, and demeanding. Now they have to deal with shoplifters and scammers.

As much as I disagree with his policy I do agree with what he did. It's his company, it's his policy, and the employees broke the policy, knowingly I assume. So they did it to themselves. Now if that policy was never made known to them then he's an asshole for firing them for breaking a policy they had no idea existed.

I wouldn't want to work with no employee people who aren't smart enough to know better than confronting and escalating into a potentially violent encounter over goods that don't even belong to you.

R54, I don’t give a fuck what their “policy” is. So if a crazy person is stealing and then points a gun at you, you aren’t allowed to call police? That’s fucked. And there was a time when as an employee you still had rights that could trump the “rights” of this corporation to set a policy.

Those of you defending this Corp are dumb dumb dumb dumb. You are weak. You are naive. You are a sheep. Sorry kids, but it’s the truth. Don’t you get it yet? The Corp is here to fuck you.

R56, the minute you start capitalizing words which aren’t usually capitalized and mention sheep you begin to sound like a lunatic.

No. R56 sounds normal as humans used to sound.

If you're given the corporate policies on theft when you take the job and you don't agree with it, then DON'T TAKE THE JOB.

I'll bet R56 is one of those people who've been working from home and is now refusing to return to the office, because, well, he's special.

Now I know what I can do during my lunch hour in Midtown Manhattan. Go on a shoplifting spree at Lululemon.

Weeeeeeeeee.............!!!!!

Who is going to risk life and limb confrontng frau legging thieves at the fucking mall?

It's not worth any amount of merchandise stolen to put employees lives at risk during a robbery or even during a shoplifting incident.

Most normal people are not thieving scum, nor do they have any desire to become thieving scum. Even knowing that most retail stores have exactly the same policies as Lululemon and have had these policies for many years, they still don't go on thieving binges every time they go to the store.

I don't know who these people are who immediately start fantasizing about shoplifting yoga pants. Freaks.

R41 Oh now it makes sense why everyone is attacking this company. Because you right wingers think this is “let black people steal cause it’s liberal”.

Oh ok. So this is a stupid racist thread and not based in actual reality.

R56 Ok first of all, there weren’t any guns in this incident so you’re being over dramatic. There are usually never runs during clothing store theft. There’s shoplifting and snatch & run.

You clearly didn’t watch the video.

The women followed the shoplifters outside. They weren’t in fear of their lives or scared.

So you’re just being an idiot.

R60 And you’re one of those people who would risk their lives during a robbery at your job.

They weren't fired for calling police, as has already been stated more than once. They were fired for filming, confronting, and following the thieves out of the store, all of which it had been made clear were fireable offenses.

Nowadays there are cameras everywhere, and police can usually follow up on these matters without putting anybody in danger. Isn't that preferable?

But that never happens

He looks like he sucked a dick or two for that job!

Now I know why eBay has so many Lululemon clothes “new with tags”

R57, I don’t think I capitalized any words, though I assure you, I WANTED TO.

I just find it very very sad that on a gay website, half the posters are defending a fucking ****corporation****. There was a time when American workers were crystal clear that corporations are only out for themselves, and if they could make a buck off of throwing you into a meat grinder, they would do it in a heartbeat. The workers are the little guys! Don’t we fight for the little guys any longer???? Corporations do not need defenders people!!!! They just fucking don’t! They have the money, the people, the power, the privilege. The workers don’t have that! If you want to use your fucking brain cells on this, use it for the mother fucking underdog

R60 clearly is in luv with Elon Musk, he thinks workers are just the bitches of corps and shouldn’t dare to express opinions, preferences, or, gasp, human rights, like documenting a robbery because you don’t know what will happen in the moment. R60, I’m sorry you have to work in retail, I did it too, it won’t always be that way though, we’ll, maybe for you.

Baa Baa, black sheep, have you any wool?!?!?

you tell 'em, YCM!

Sadly, r71, we cannot because she is actually borderline. But it brings me great joy to take on her persona, cunt extraordinaire!

I get it but I think a warning would have sufficed. Also, make sure that philosophy engrained before action.

r70 Even a mom & pop shop would have a policy for their workers to not try to stop thefts themselves. Possibly more so because it's more expensive to cover the workers comp cost if the employee is injured during the confrontation.

If I ran a business, I'd want to spend as little as possible and earn as much as possible. An employee recklessly endangering themselves on the job would cost money. The merchandise is usually insured and law enforcement is paid via our tax dollars to handle criminal activity. I'd expect the cops to do their jobs, not my employees. And I would absolutely explicitly spell this out in the employee handbook:

"If you witness a theft in progress, do not engage, do not confront. Observe the incident, keep a safe distance from the offender, and immediately call the police. Failing to follow this policy is subject to disciplinary action up to, and including, termination."

Any employee who not only puts their lives in danger unnecessarily but then also does so after being told not to by their employer deserves to get written up at minimum.

It’s sounds like a goddamn free-for-all 💃🏼

R74, touché. You are right in the sense that business owners need to think and act as you described. But where I start having problems is with large corporations. I definitely give a “wide lane” to small business owners, being one myself, I understand the challenges. Running a small business is a mother fucker. But big Corporations? In America? They’re owning us. Between the fact that they can pull up social media from 20 years ago on potential hires, tell current employees what they can/cannot post today, paying zero tax dollars (so they get to use all of our public services, but put NOTHING into the actual economy? And don’t tell me their workers are their gift, their workers haven’t had a cost-of-living adjustment since 1981. No, they are obligated to throw their millions at Uncle Sam in the tax bucket, not just the fucking CFO!!!). I could go on and on and on.

America is the economic powerhouse that it is because we have always raped the workers, starting with actual slavery, the modern day version of which is retail (except for the violence/abuse). The only reason we are financially successful as a country is because we applauded and lifted up ruthless people. That’s it kids! We honored and gave all the power to monsters three hundred years ago, and now our monsters are corporations. Wake up!

OP linked to the New York Post. Troll.

R76 Meh

Retail and major corporations keep really basic people employed. Obviously, not everyone but there are a lot of lazy people with no skills who can maintain a retail job.

But retail has a term called “warm bodies”. Some get hired just to show up to be able to fill in the schedule for lunch breaks and etc for better workers.

Small retail shops at the mall or companies like Old Navy and Gap - the supervisors / managers are the real workers and the rest are usually warm bodies who work part time and basically clean up and ring people out. And some can barely do it.

It’s not slavery, it’s full of people who have no interest in working. It’s one of the only jobs where you can get paid to do nothing.

[quote]It’s one of the only jobs where you can get paid to do nothing.

r78 Tell me you've never worked in retail without telling me you've never worked in retail.

R79 I worked in retail.

Yes you can do absolutely nothing depending on how much you suck. If you suck really bad, they’ll give you less to do because they don’t want to assign tasks that won’t get finished.

I hope the last thing the fired employees did upon leaving was help themselves to masses of Lululemon product on the way out, like a car full

After all, its only merchandise

I would normally just back my car up to the back door but why not the front door?