Lululemon CEO Defends Firing Employees Who Confronted Shoplifters

Two Lululemon employees recently called the police on a group of shoplifters.

Recently, two Atlanta metro women admitted to calling the police to report a robbery while working at Lululemon in the city of Peachtree Corners. Jennifer Ferguson, who was the assistant manager at the time, told local NBC-affiliate 11Alive that the incident involved several men who had run into the store wearing masks and hoodies. "They swiped until they couldn't hold any more product and ran out the door," Ferguson said.

Rachel Rogers, who was a key leader for the Atlanta Lululemon store, told 11Alive that the location had been dealing with thefts like this for months. But unlike with past scenarios, Ferguson and Rogers decided to call authorities after this group of shoplifters hit their store. "We didn't really feel very protected or know what else to do," Rogers told the news outlet.

But Ferguson admitted that intervening in incidents like this technically goes against Lululemon's company policy. "We are not supposed to get in the way. You kind of clear path for whatever they're going to do," she said. "And then, after it's over, you scan a QR code. And that's that. We've been told not to put it in any notes, because that might scare other people. We're not supposed to call the police, not really supposed to talk about it."

They said they were fired as a result.

A report from the Gwinnett Police Department confirmed that the three thieves who hit the Peachtree Corner Lululemon during this incident are now facing felony robbery charges. But Ferguson and Rogers said they were fired after the incident, and both were given the same reasoning for their termination: their choice to intervene. "It wasn't very clear. They didn't give specific reasoning besides just saying they have a 'no-tolerance policy," Rogers told 11Alive. Ferguson's response was nearly the same: "They said I was terminated immediately with no severance because they have a zero-tolerance policy."

The two former employees said they feel that it wasn't fair they were fired and hope that Lululemon can change its policy to allow employees to call the police if they don't feel safe.

But considering new comments from the head of the company, this seems unlikely.

Lululemon's CEO is now defending firing Ferguson and Rogers.

Despite frustrations from the two former employees, Lululemon appears to be doubling down on its decision. In a June 2 interview on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, the company's CEO Calvin McDonald defended firing both Ferguson and Rogers after they called the police on the three shoplifters at the Peachtree City store. "We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators on around engaging during a theft," McDonald said. ("Educators" is how Lululemon refers to its employees.)

But McDonald also clarified that it wasn't the fact that they called the police that got them fired. "Unfortunately, in this situations, the educators knowingly broke the policy, engaged with the thieves across multiple points, including following them out of the store...that was what resulted in the termination," he explained. "Just to be clear, our educators are able to call the police."

He said the policy is in place for the safety of its workers.

McDonald also defended the company's "zero-tolerance policy," making it clear that there is no plans to change it. Lululemon has these rules in place "because we put the safety of our team, of our guest, front, and center," he said. "It's only merchandise."

According to the CEO, the retailer's employees are trained to take themselves out of the situation. They are told to let the theft happen because they have technology and cameras in place that will allow them to work with local law enforcement after the theft.

"We take that policy seriously because we have had instances—and we have seen with other retailers, instances—where employees step in and are hurt, or worse, killed," McDonald explained. "And the policy is to protect them. But we have to stand behind the policy to enforce it."