Working with Westlaw Campus Research

"Don't be a Hero" Policies

[Stephanie:] So, tell me what happened last week Heather.

[Heather:] Ok, well I was restocking the potting soil and I heard this woman start screaming. I looked around and saw this guy standing over her and yanking on her purse. It looked like he was hurting her so I dropped everything and headed over there and starting shouting at the guy.

[Stephanie:] And you took off after him?

[Heather:] Um...yes, I did.

[Stephanie:] So why didn't you stay with the customer?

[Heather:] She was yelling, "Stop! Stop him; he took my purse." And I don't know; it happened so fast. I guess I did what she yelled at me to do.

[Stephanie:] The thief could have been armed?

[Heather:] Well I guess so. It was just my instinct to try to help.

[Stephanie:] Ok, so then what happened?

[Heather:] Well, he took off out the side door and I followed him into the parking lot. I shouted for him to stop. He was pretty fast and after a while, I knew I couldn't catch him.

[Stephanie:] And then?

[Heather:] Well, I went back to the customer to see if she was ok. A helper called the police. The cops asked me a lot of questions; helped me to remember what I saw you know? While I was chasing the guy, I noticed he had on a green t-shirt with white sneakers with a scuff mark on the left heel. The officer seemed glad to have that information.

[Stephanie:] Heather you know that we have a strict policy against doing this kind of thing, right? It's in your employee handbook; it's part of your training.

[Heather:] Yes. I just didn't have time to think of that.

[Stephanie:] Well what was your plan if you caught up to him?

[Heather:] Well I mean for sure I was going to get the lady's purse back. I guess I just didn't have time to think about what would happen after that.

[ Pause ]

[Stephanie:] Ok. Thank you. You can go Heather.

[ Pause ]

So, like tell me about what happened with the shoplifter on Monday?

[Blake:] Ok. So this dude, I'd seen him around before; he never bought anything. Always spent a lot of time looking at iPads.

[Stephanie:] Ok.

[Blake:] Ok, so on Monday he comes in wearing a coat. I mean it's like 75 degrees that day. So I keep an eye on him.

[Stephanie:] Did you call security?

[Blake:] No offense, but those guys are like the laziest guys in the store. I have called them before and it takes them forever to show up so I don't even bother.

[Stephanie:] Ok, is then what happened?

[Blake:] Ok, so I notice he's got something. To me it looks like wire cutters and sure enough, that's what it is.

[Stephanie:] Mm-hmm.

[Blake:] He cut the cord holding the iPad demo; slid the whole thing under his jacket. So I went up to him and said, "Hey," and he tried to take off. So then I tackled him.

[laughs]

[Stephanie:] You seem very proud of that.

[Blake:] It was a pretty good tackle.

[Stephanie:] Go on with the story.

[Blake:] So I just kind of sat on him for a while. He struggled at first; eventually gave up. And somebody must have called security because those guys actually did show up and they took him away. And I got the iPad back and it still worked. I slid a new cable through it and it's still our demo.

[Stephanie:] Blake, do you know how much an iPad costs us?

[Blake:] I don't know. We sell them for what, $499? So maybe $399?

[Stephanie:] That's about right. Do you have any idea how much a single lawsuit costs us? If a customer was hurt in the scuffle or if this guy decides he's going to sue us for false imprisonment.

[Blake:] There wasn't false anything. He was stealing from us.

[Stephanie:] That's not the point. The point is a single lawsuit can cost us tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and more if we lose a case and have to pay a judgment.

[Blake:] Ok. But how much would you saw we lose in shoplifting in a year?

[Stephanie:] That doesn't matter.

[Blake:] Would you say it's more than $50,000?

[Stephanie:] Well, it might be.

[Blake:] Actually, I've read it's more like a couple hundred grand a year.

[Stephanie:] That might be accurate.

[Blake:] Ma'am, if more people acted like I did, you'd have a lot less shoplifting.Assume that the employees are at-will employees.You can look at Todd's Notes on Legal Research for Westlaw Campus Research information and the Citation Unit for help with citing cases.You could also find the cases suggested below using Google.

Required:Answer the following questions:

1.What are the store's reasons for its policies?Your discussion should include the doctrine of respondeat superior and any other relevant points.

2.Do you think that the two situations (Heather / Blake) are equivalent violations of the "don't be a hero" (sometimes called a non-resistance) policy?Should they result in similar discipline?Remember to discuss the facts of each situation.

3.Suppose that the store terminates both employees.Do they have any legal recourse?You must discuss any public policy exceptions to the "at will" employment doctrine and whether they would be satisfied here.