Waitrose shoppers have vowed to never use the supermarket again after it dismissed a loyal 17-year employee following a shoplifting incident – with angry customers taking to social media to blast the decision
Walker T SmithWaitrose worker sacked from 17-year job after stopping theif stealing Easter eggshttps://www.facebook.com/walker.smith.73594/photosWARNING TAKEN FROM OPEN FACEBOOK ACCOUNTEDITORS CALL ON USAGE (Image: Facebook)
Waitrose shoppers have today vowed to never use the supermarket again after it sacked a loyal employee for trying to stop a shoplifter.
The firm’s decision to dismiss Walker Smith, 54, was blasted on social media, including by many regulars at the supermarket. Walker’s 17-year tenure at Waitrose ended abruptly, despite his brave efforts to detain a shoplifter who had attempted to smuggle high-end Easter eggs.
The outrage has intensified to the point that customers have pledged to take their custom elsewhere.
One posted online: “After you sack a long-standing employee for trying to stop a shoplifter, I’m afraid I can no longer shop at your store… Disgusting decision.” Another said: “@Waitrose You have been every unfair and, as a result, I will no longer shop at your stores. This is outrageous.”
Waitrose, which has more than 300 branches in the UK, said in a statement that shoplifters pose “a serious danger to life”. It stressed it is not company policy for its staff to tackle shoplifters.
Yet the statement has done precious little to placate its customers.
Waitrose Clapham JunctionWaitrose worker sacked from 17-year job after stopping theif stealing Easter eggs (Image: undefined)
Another wrote online: “I will no longer shop at Waitrose.” A further punter posted on X: “People should not be penalised for standing up for what’s right. @Waitrose not only need to immediately re-empliy Walker Smith. They need to apologise to Walker who has given 17 years of service and saw Waitrose as ‘his family'”.
The shoplifter, whom Mr Smith claimed to recognise as a habitual offender, fled the store in Clapham Junction, south-west London as the shop assistant picked up a piece of broken chocolate, hurling it “out of frustration” towards some trolleys. Despite his insistence that he did not aim at the thief, he was reprimanded by his manager and compelled to apologise.
His superior subsequently chose to escalate the matter, prompting Mr Smith to plead with store management to retain his position, stating that Waitrose was like his “family”. Nevertheless, he was recently dismissed, sparking widespread outrage amongst customers.
The supermarket highlighted that staff had previously sustained injuries while confronting thieves, and that it would never wish to place its workers in a perilous situation. A Waitrose spokesperson said: “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.”