A Georgia woman says she was fired for calling the police on three robbers who stole thousands of dollars worth of clothes from the Lululemon store she worked at. The incident occurred during work hours and one of the employees filmed the masked men stealing thousands of dollars worth of clothing from the store at the Forum Shops in Peachtree Corners.
Rachel Rogers, 23 years old, was working at the time and captured the frightening moments on cellphone video. Rogers told Channel 2 that “they’re just full-blown, like, running circles around you grabbing as much as they can,” Rogers said. “And it’s a scary feeling, and you don’t know how to react. So, our reaction is to scream, ‘No! Get out! Leave!’”
Rogers said she and her former coworker Jennifer Ferguson were shaken but uninjured, and immediately reported the crime to the police.
But two weeks later, they were fired after they learned that they had both violated company policy by calling 911.
So how were they supposed to handle this situation?
“Clear a pathway. At least this is what is posted, is a clear pathway, and don’t interact, let them take what they want. Let them take what they have and do not make contact with them at all,” is what Rogers said was what she was told.
Rogers said that she was frustrated because she’s been dealing with this same problem for the last eight months.
Investigators say the same group of robbers struck again the following day in Peachtree City where police arrested and charged them with multiple felonies.
Social media is a buzz after Lululemon company policy was exposed with the majority saying that the employees should sue for not being able to protect themself at work.
Thefts along with dozens of thieves entering Lululemon stores have surged in recent years. In 2018, 13 Lululemon stores in the San Francisco area were robbed in 12 days and in that same year, one theft ring targeting Lululemon was responsible for $135,000 in losses. In 2022, thieves took over $16,000 from a New York City store and $45,000 from another one in the city. A Palo Alto store had $50,000 in merchandise taken during business hours in that same year, the California Highway Patrol recovered over $200,000 in stolen Lululemon leggings. In February, 2023, a man was accused of stealing $140,000 at a Michigan store and a group of women allegedly stole $4000 of clothing from an Alabama store.
In 2011, a Lululemon employee was murdered at a suburban Washington D.C. store after an altercation involving an alleged shoplifting incident with another employee.
Update:
A company spokesperson with Lululemon issued the following statement after our original article:
“The two employees at our Peachtree Corners location in Georgia were not terminated for calling the police. They were terminated for knowingly violating our zero-tolerance policy related to physically engaging with the perpetrators which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk. Employees are able and instructed to call 911 when needed, and that was not the cause of termination in this case. We are grateful no one was hurt during this altercation. At lululemon, our people’s safety is our number one priority, which includes an absolute zero-tolerance policy for our employees engaging with guests in a way that could put themselves, or others, in harm’s way. We have longstanding protocols in place to uphold a safe environment in our stores, and our view is that no amount of merchandise in a store is worth our educators putting themselves at risk. Our focus is on continuing to support our employees and creating a safe shopping environment for our guests, as well as continuing to collaborate with local partners and law enforcement to ensure our stores remain safe.”
