Waitrose defends decision to sack employee who challenged Easter egg shoplifter

Waitrose has spoken out following its controversial decision to sack a worker who challenged an Easter egg thief at a London store.

Walker Smith, 54, had worked at the supermarket for 17 years before being dismissed. He said he was “crying inside” as he was escorted out, describing the store as feeling like family.

The incident happened at a Waitrose branch in Clapham Junction, south London. While on shift, Walker was told by a customer that someone had filled a bag with Easter eggs.

Although staff are told not to approach shoplifters and instead report it, Walker said he acted after seeing repeated thefts over the years.

He challenged the suspect and grabbed their bag, leading to a brief struggle. The bag tore open and several Lindt Gold Bunny Easter eggs fell onto the floor. The shoplifter ran off, and Walker later admitted throwing a piece of broken chocolate “out of frustration”, but not at the thief.

He was initially disciplined but, weeks later, he was called into a meeting and dismissed. Speaking to the Guardian, he said: “I tried to stay strong and I didn’t say a word but inside I was crying. They led me out the back door by the bins. I just felt demoralised.

“Waitrose is like my family. My friends are there. I was there for 17 years, I must have been doing something right. I’m not a bad or violent or aggressive person. I just got frustrated seeing this day in and day out and not seeing Waitrose do much about it.”

Since then, Walker has thanked supporters and is now looking for a new job. In a Facebook post, he wrote:
“Thank you everyone for getting in touch with kind messages and support, I really appreciate it. I didn’t think it would blow up like this but now it has my priority is getting a job.

“I’m based in Clapham Junction so if you or anyone you know is looking for a reliable, conscientious employee please reach out. I was at Waitrose for 17 years so warehousing, customer service – except dealing with shoplifters(!), or similar would be amazing.”

‘There is a serious danger to life in tackling shoplifters’

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Waitrose has defended its decision, saying staff safety comes first. The company said there have been cases where workers were injured while confronting shoplifters.

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.”

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