Lululemon has a strict “zero-tolerance” policy when it comes to how store employees are to handle being robbed.
CEO Calvin McDonald reiterated this point during CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Friday, where he defended the company for firing two employees, who last month confronted a pair of thieves making off with store merchandise from one of Lululemon’s Georgia locations.
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McDonald explained that Lululemon “educators” (that’s what they call store employees), are trained to not engage with any thieves, and instead instructed to scan a QR code, and to only call 911 after the suspects have left the store.
McDonald says the policy is in place to “because we put the safety of our team, of our guest, front and center. It’s only merchandise.”
Per the NY Post, a Lululemon spokesperson reiterated that the two employees, Jennifer Ferguson and Rachel Rogers, were fired for “physically engaging with the perpetrators which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk.”
Ferguson and Rogers say they were “aware” of Lululemon’s policy, and say they were let go without being given “specific reasoning” for their firing.
The Gwinnett Police Department later tracked down the thieves who robbed the store, and they are now facing felony robbery charges. The thieves had reportedly stolen from the store nearly a dozen times prior.
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