A supermarket manager who spent his entire working life at Morrisons says he and his family are struggling to get by four months after being dismissed for physically intervening when a shoplifter became aggressive and began spitting at him.
Sean Egan, 46, had worked for the supermarket chain since the age of 17 — almost three decades of unbroken service — before being dismissed following a disciplinary hearing that found he had breached the company’s deter-and-not-detain policy. The incident occurred last December at the Morrisons branch in Aldridge, near Walsall in the West Midlands, when a prolific shoplifter attempted to leave the store with stolen goods.
According to Egan, the situation escalated rapidly. The shoplifter had become aggressive and was spitting at him when he instinctively swung his arm back in response. He then grabbed the man’s arm to prevent him from reaching into his bag, fearing what he might be concealing. “My thought is, ‘I’ve got to stop this guy. I don’t know what he’s going to do, not only to me, but anybody else,'” he told BBC News. He called the police but was subsequently investigated by his employer.
Under standard Morrisons policy, staff are expected to escort shoplifters off the premises without physical confrontation. The company maintains that its procedures exist to protect employees and customers and must be followed strictly regardless of circumstances. A spokesman said: “The health and safety of all colleagues and customers is of paramount importance to Morrisons. We will not ask colleagues to put themselves at risk.”
Egan, who lives in Wolverhampton, received his final pay cheque in January and has since been unable to find a way forward. “I’ve given so much to a business where I’ve actually lived for work,” he said. “But in that moment I felt like everything I had given was attacked.” He described the difficulty of mentally moving on from an institution that had defined his professional life since his teenage years.
With no income since January, Egan says he and his family are now “barely surviving.” The case has reignited debate about the impossible position front-line retail workers are placed in when confronted with aggressive or violent shoplifters, and whether blanket non-intervention policies adequately account for the reality staff face on the shop floor.
Morrisons said it was continuing to take “wide-ranging action” to address shoplifting and violence across its stores.
