https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/aug/2/retailers-tell-employees-ignore-retail-theft-or-lo/Retailers tell employees to ignore retail theft or lose their jobsBy Sean Salai
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Retailers have ordered employees to ignore gangs of shoplifters and started firing workers who buck the policy as an organized crime wave sweeps stores nationwide.
Losses from retail thefts nationwide will surge from $86.6 billion last year to at least $115 billion in 2025, bank holding company Capital One estimates, as stores lock up goods, bolster security and cut their losses rather than risk the financial liability of confronting thieves.
Shoplifting incidents cost retailers an average of $461.86 in 2020, and stores caught only about 2% of the incidents, according to Capital One. Business analysts say the cost is lower than the consequences of an employee getting injured, or worse, while trying to stop a theft.
“They’d rather take a loss on $500 in goods than eat what it costs to pay a medical bill, get sued or replace an employee,” said Jason Friedman, a Dallas-based lawyer who litigates workplace lawsuits. “They do it to protect the employees, so they don’t feel they have to stop a theft to keep their jobs.”
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According to a recent NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll, 72% of voters believe employers shouldn’t punish workers for intervening against shoplifters.
Companies say the crime wave leaves them little choice.
Among small-business owners responding to a poll by Idaho-based recruitment agency RedBalloon, 82% expressed concern about a growing trend of public officials failing to prosecute retail theft.
“With many left-leaning judges slapping property owners with huge liability for injuring a criminal when stopping them in the act of theft, it’s no wonder that many business owners feel helpless,” Andrew Crapuchettes, RedBalloon CEO, told The Times.
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