Coles Worker Fired for Restraining Thief Gets $6,500

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Coles will pay $6,500 to a worker it dismissed after he tried to stop two suspected thieves at a neighbouring Liquorland store. The Fair Work Commission found the dismissal was unfair, even though the company had a valid reason for it.

Deputy president Judith Wright said the man breached Coles' code of conduct. She still called the dismissal harsh and unreasonable, citing his good employment record and the fact that he did not knowingly and deliberately break the rules.

What happened in Pyrmont

The man was a casual team member at the Coles store in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont. During an evening shift in December last year he saw two suspected shoplifters walk past the self-checkouts. He said he had met them before and that they were known in the store for stealing, verbally abusing and physically assaulting other employees.

He said he asked them not to steal. When they opened cooler bags and went into the adjacent Liquorland, he asked them not to enter because they were underage. They allegedly ignored him and put several four-packs of alcohol into their bags. A lone Liquorland staff member called the police.

The man confronted the pair again as they headed for the exit. One of them threw a four-pack onto the concrete outside. He then tried to restrain one of the suspects, holding her around the shoulders and upper body. They moved around the store for about two minutes and 20 seconds while she pulled against him. He let her go when he realised police would not arrive for some time.

He checked that the Liquorland employee was all right and arranged for Coles staff to help with cleaning. Police arrived a few hours later.

Suspension and dismissal

His actions breached three rules in the Coles code of conduct. They require staff to avoid situations where they could be hurt, to keep a safe distance from an aggressor and never to follow anyone out of a shop. The man said his sudden impulse came from frustration at Coles not doing enough about repeat offenders. He also said he had never detained anyone in his 10 years at Coles and would not have done so inside a Coles store. Because he was on a break and outside his place of employment, he believed his action was acceptable.

Two days later the Pyrmont store manager suspended him, citing CCTV footage of a physical altercation, and told him not to come back into the store. He asked for a union delegate and for documentation and was refused at first. The next day he returned with a delegate to ask for a discussion and a copy of the suspension script. The manager said she felt "anxious and a bit scared" and asked him to leave, then handed over the script.

After a disciplinary meeting, a regional manager dismissed him. The manager said his written response was irrelevant, did not explain why he acted as he did and suggested he believed he had done nothing wrong.

Wright found the suspension had been poorly handled. The manager had denied him a support person and did not give him written information, so his return to the store could not stand as a valid reason for dismissal. She noted that it was unusual for an organisation as large as Coles not to have prepared such documents. She did not order reinstatement because the man would not acknowledge that he breached the policies. She set compensation at $6,483.51, citing a one-off incident and his long, unblemished service.

A spokesperson for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association called the case "an unfortunate example of the real risks surrounding shops and stores every day". The union said it has pushed for tougher measures and penalties to protect retail workers from violence and abuse.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald