Well, this man deserves and award for not being scared to approach a customer that was potentially stealing. I can't believe they fired him. If Lowery wasn't guilty of stealing, then why did he care if the cops had his license number? It's not like it's hidden inside the car and no one can see it.

Oh my gosh. Leave it to Walmart!

Years ago, Walmart would have kept the guy around, b/c he might be an asset to them if he would have died from his injuries. Now that they have been busted and slapped with numerous lawsuits for taking out life insurance policies on part time hourly workers, a benefit not actually offered to employees themselves, (policies which were only for exec.'s) and collecting on them when the person died, he is of no use to them.

He should SUE Walmart! I dont support walmart anymore, don't buy anything from them. Walmart is a thief to everyone.

While I am no fan of Walmart, this story does not match what is happening in the video. In the video, the man walks back into the store with his bag and is shoved into the scanner by the greeter and THEN he punches the greeter. I would have reacted in some way to that as well. And how many times have we all set off the scanner by something we legitimately purchased from that store?

Thanks for writing about this (from a fellow writer). I will never enter a Walmart as long as I live. Not that it happened often - I travel 125,000 miles a year for work and when in some places throughout America, it has been the only option. Now, other options or not, I will skip. Who at that company makes all these bad decisions? Do they not realize that they're very badly managed?

THIS GUY IS A SELFISH IDIOT WHO DOESN'T GIVE A D**M ABOUT HIS OWN RACE'S STRUGGLES: PULLING THE RACIAL SLUR CARD WHEN WE ALL KNOW HE'S LYING CAUSES OTHERS TO WHOM IT DID HAPPEN TO APPEAR AS IF THEY'RE CRYING WOLF.

OMG!!!!!!!!!! I JUST CHECKED ROCKI'S STORY (BELOW) AND IT IS TRUE: WALMART WAS BUSTED FOR TAKING LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES ON 350,000 EMPLOYEES AND NAMES THEMSELVES AS BENEFICIARY!!! THAT IS SHOCKING!!! HOW DISGUSTING!!!

@Pamela: Um, the employee has a right to look in the bag to see if everything is accounted for. That's what they do when the alarm goes off. All he did was try to grab the bag from him, which obviously was a problem for the perp since he was likely stealing. Good to know you'd punch an elderly man for doing his job, though. You must be really classy.

I can't believe some of you are BARLEY boycotting Walmart...I haven't stepped into a Walmart for YEARS because of all the bullshit that has gone on in that corrupt corporation. The "low" costs are not worth what they do to their employees. Not to mention Walmart is a breeding ground for the most ghetto and disrespecting people in America. No thank you, Target for me. Good job to that man who defended himself!!

I think Pamela maybe right. If the customer stole something why did he come back into the store? The customer walks out of the store, greeter follows him out, customer comes back into the store, greeter grabbed what was in the customers hand and they had a struggle. The customer was pushed and customer runs out of the store. I don't blame the guy, I thank the greeter took things to far. Is it worth someone getting hurt over a few bucks? What if the guy was a nut and had a gun? There were a lot of innocent people all over that store. Walmart also should pay for security. Not giving a senor citizen male and female the responsibility of trying to catch the bad guys. Walmart you are cheap.

@ mcr: No. 1: I said would react in some way - I did not say I would punch anyone. There was no need to take anything I said out of context and attempt to insult me. My reaction, however, would have been to call the Manager or Security over. Regardless of what the greeter believes, unless he actually saw the man steal something, he is just assuming that he has because the scanner went off (which can happen at times depending on the type of product purchased). SECURITY by the way a Greeter is not. Security officers are not even allowed to enter into a physical altercation with a customer and can be terminated for doing so. This sort of situation is for the police to handle, not suspicious employees. Can you imagine all of the altercations that would occur were employees allowed to play cop? No. 2: You are correct that the employee has a right to look in the bag. What I see in the video is the man starting to open the bag for the greeter when he re-enters the store - then I see the greeter shove him into the scanner. No. 3: While I am sure at the time the greeter thought he was doing the right thing, he did not know all of the facts of the situation, he did not know for sure the man stole anything and he should not have left the store to confront the man - the greeter was overzealous and did not follow company policy. Walmart has loss insurance and plenty of it - whatever this man "may have stolen" was not worth the greeter risking his job or possibly his life to retrieve. Walmart does not care enough about its employees for an employee to take such risks for them.

If you google the man's name "Skyler Lowery" you will find dozens of links to stories stating the man was arrested for battery but that his receipt showed he did pay for the item that set off the scanner. It's a shame that a man has lost his job and another man now has a criminal record all based on the suspicion of an employee that went against company policy.

I would love to sit here and say I won't ever go to another wal-mart again. But in a town where that is pretty much all you have when it comes to groceries, you don't have a lot of options!

Here's a story from my own wal-mart.

About a week or so ago, our Rent-A-Center, Aaron's, and Cash-and-Go caught on fire with Rent-A-Center having the most damages. One of the firefighters sent his wife to wal-mart, which is right there, to get water and gatorade for the firefighters. The wife went in and told the manager what was going on and asked if she could charge it and her husband would come back when the fire was out to pay for it. The manager told her no because the fire department doesn't have a charge account. So, an employee paid for the water and gatorade (which equaled less than $30). The wife of the firefighter wrote a letter to the editor in one of our newspapers. Needless to say, a lot of people are pissed! Like I said, if I could, I wouldn't go into our wal-mart. But we really don't have anything else! The closest Target is a hour away and its just a regular Target I think.

Skyler Lowery is a pussy and bully - what a coward - you don't it a man that age no matter what - he's a piece of shit - looks like he's into porn actually - men who can't have intelligent conversation and resort to voilence are "apes" - face it - is that "racist" enough for you ape-faced idiot with the soap opera name? you lost a person a job over this -i hope you get your ass beat personally and go to debtor's prison over legal fees you moron.

you women defending this jerk who punched an elderly man - you must get baten at home yorulselves and think it's okay - it doesnt; matter what was siad to him - he did not need to throw a punch - it's immature, idiot ape behavior - typically male - he looks like an idiot - face it -

Marie,

I apologize, that came out wrong. I am fortunate enough to live in a state where Wal-mart isn't my only option. I cant say how I'd shop if I was in your position and had to support that shitty corporation.

I believe Alexis's comments are a prime example of how people are judged by their appearance by racists in this country. Well said, Alexis, you just backed me up. Thank you.

Pamela,
I wonder why alexis' name is a different color than the other posters. I've seen that before on other names. And the content of her post is really bizarre.

Wow, I hope that this negative publicity makes Walmart realize that they are now being hung out and shown what a terrible company they are.

It really is unfortunate, and I hope it all works out.

-Rick

In the surveillance video it looks like once the alleged perp entered back in walmart to have his bag checked the 69 year old greeter stumbled a bit into him by accident not pushed him. Slow the video down a bit.

Rick: Oddly, your name came up this time in another color. Who knows, perhaps Mr. Kotz has an explanation of this phenomenon? Can you reveal something about this Mr. Kotz?

Pamela,
Look at the next post above yours. Har dee har har. I'm not going to bother anymore. We're not getting any explanations of that or who is who.

Rick: What I gather thus far from a quick review of this site is that some names are being mislabeled as tagwords and are showing up in another color. If you click on some of them you are directed to various websites, some having nothing to do with those names. A glitch I assume.

Tia,

I didn't take it wrong. Actually, if I could shop somewhere else, I would!

Pamela,

The names that are in different colors you can click on them. I believe they are the persons url. Also, I'm pretty sure that's not the other alexa. Too many grammar errors.

Also, sorry if my spelling or something is bad! My screen is blank when I type so I'm going at this blind! Lol stupid phone!
I

Pamela,
Actually you are right, but specifically that color shows up when you copy/paste. That's all. Yes, that is not the other Alexa, this is Alexis. Oh well.

Rocki,

Sorry! My phone is messing up and I thought that it said alexa, not Alexis! When I go to scroll up, it goes down! When I scroll down, it goes up! Sorry!

walmarts stuff is as cheap as dog shit

i feellike i was watching a commedy from the 20's. too few frames and too fast for the replay.

from what i saw the greeter is guilty

We're making wal-mart out to be some kind of super-villain here, but the fact of the matter is that pretty much every major retailer I know of (including the nearly 8 I've personally worked for) would do the exact same thing. This is merely a symptom of a much larger social problem, not a vice of one major retailer.

I don't understand you people who believe that the store has the "right" to search your bag. If you have already been through checkout and already paid then the bag and all it's contents are YOUR property. Nobody, except the police under very controlled circumstances, has the right to search through your property.

Most people, including most posters here, are such sheep that they simply acquiesce in any attempt by powerful organizations to abridge their rights. Read your Bill of Rights, people. Random employees standing by the door at a store cannot demand to search your bag any more than they can demand to search your purse or your wallet.

The only time a search like this would be legal would be in the case of a membership store like Costco where you signed an agreement and granted the store the right to search you on your way out. But this is certainly not the case with Walmart.

And in the meantime, the Walton Brats are each worth $15-20 Billion (yes, with a 'B') and they do not give a s--t about the schmucks who work for them.

@mcr Actually places like this are NOT allowed to stop you for any reason, even if your obviously stealing they are NOT allowed to place one finger on you. The most they can do is write down your license plate like this guy did and then call the police.

Your name shows up a different color when you enter a URL. Its a link. Thats all.

Its normal for the greeters to check you bags and follow after you when you beep through the scanners. At some walmarts here, before you even walk through the scanners, they check your bags and your reciept.

1.) Skyler wouldn't have minded his license plate being taken down if he didn't do anything. Infact, if I were in that position and felt it was due to racism I'd happily allow them to take my license plate so when the cops showed up at my door I could explain what happened.

2.) Who hits an old man? There wasn't a reason to. I agree, when you slow the video down it looks like he more so fell into him than shoved him. But if I were shoved by an old man, even a young man, who worked at a store I was at I would go to the manager or security or have called the cops myself.

3.) This was escalated for nothing. He could have shown his bag and went on his way. If he thought he was pushed he could have handled it a lot better. Even if he were pushed, why would that cause one to PUNCH a 60 year old? It would be a little different if he pushed him back.

I applaud you Bauman, its good to see you stand up for yourself. Just be careful next time, you never know with these looneys today- he may have had a gun. Walmart lost a good employee, don't worry you'll find another one.

I will still be shopping at Walmart when needed, sue me. Its not like Im applying for a job.

@Binko- Sorry Binko, its standard for a few walmarts in my area to check your bags after you check out and before you walk out the door. Sams Club, which is also owned by the same people as Walmart, does the same thing here. Maybe its because Im from a major city and its more urban, I dont know, but they take your reciept and look through the bags and match them up here.

You guys obviously haven't heard of a citizen's arrest. Every state has some form of allowance for non-police to detain someone that's caught committing a crime. Detain as in stop you on the premises (they cannot move you, or follow outside the store) and hold you there until the police arrive to perform their job. But if you don't believe that, feel free to get caught stealing something and see just how many fingers they can lay on you.

I think you all may be confused by what Skyler was carying. It was actually the clip board that the greeter was writing down his liscense plate number on. You can see that he has nothing in his hands at the start - he just appears to be talking to the greeter (who has a clip board). Then they go off camera. Then back in camera and Skyler has the clip board. Then the greeter reaches for it and the fight ensues. So just my 2 cents. But it doesn't really look like anything is actually getting searched at all.

I kept setting off store alarms, especially Barnes & Noble. I would stop right there where I was and look back at the employees as if to say "what gives?" I would not just continue walking. The store employees would usually just wave me on as they had lots of false positives.

Couldn't figure it out. Then one day I discovered this little sticker tucked away in my wallet in one of those lesser used pockets.

Good thing I don't frequent Walmart, might have had to beat up a lot of grouchy old people.

Rocki Jane Pamela, Do you remember when I accused this Website of manipulating the bloggers statements. I even went so far as to say that Pete, Alexis, Alexia, Seth and a few others worked for this site? I believe that they posed as bloggers posting their opinions with racist, gay and attacking people to stir up shit in order to gain popularity for the site. Everyone got on my Ass yelling at me concerned citizen, pete, marie, Alexia, I don't even remember who all was pissed off at me thats why I changed my user name. I still say thank that some how someone or more then one person is behind this crap and that is why the Website does not stop it. If I am wrong I will be the first one to apologize to Mr. Kotz

Keep shopping at WalMart and they will keep up these practices. It is that simple.

The rules of Walmart in Canada are that an associate, under no circumstances are to swing back or fight back a customer. Not to mention that as a Greeter, it is the Greeter's MAIN job to follow the suspect of shoplifting and take down their license plate number, so this man wasn't a "hero" or doing anything out of the ordinary of what his job description details.

The younger man was wrong to punch the Walmart employee, but the Walmart employee knew of the Rules of Walmart before he swung back.

@Walmart Emplyee

It doesn't matter what the policies of Walmart are. If that person punched him, then he has a RIGHT as an American to defend himself.

I agree with Pamela, the video if anything seems to indicate the Walmart employee assaulted the customer, prompting the customer to fight back.

TO
Walmart Employee,

So you would prefer a worker get killed or several injured and not fight back?, in most work places there are exception to those rules. The police say it was reasonable force.

To Grag Patrick,

For one, personally asking if I myself would prefer workers getting killed or several injured because one person didn't swing back is not only childish but irrelevant: Walmart has certain codes of conduct it works with and as a hired employee you acknowledge and abide by all rules: Don't like it, find somewhere else to work. This employee clearly didn't follow the codes of conduct, wrestled and argued with the customer BEFORE getting hit, and then struck back. If it even escalates slightly employees are to drop the subject, WALK AWAY and find management. Everything was caught on tape, and that clipboard is not nearly important enough to grab from a customer. The Employee started this fight, and Walmart finished it by firing him for breaking the rules. End of story. If the employee was smart he would have waited till the customer walked out of the building like the rules state, THEN follow him out, DESCREETLY write down the plate number and then go back inside and call management.

Pete Kotz what is Rocki and Pamela talking about? When I click on the yellow colored user names they go to different Web-pages? Are they getting free advertising on TCR? Thats what it looks like to me.

You guys obviously haven't heard of a citizen's arrest. Every state has some form of allowance for non-police to detain someone that's caught committing a crime. Detain as in stop you on the premises (they cannot move you, or follow outside the store) and hold you there until the police arrive to perform their job. But if you don't believe that, feel free to get caught stealing something and see just how many fingers they can lay on you...

...said,
I wouldn't be too quick to admit you're wrong. As soon as I said something about the different colors, a bunch of different color name appeared. I guess the joke's on me.

I don't feel bad for this elderly man. It is not his job to follow customers out to their car and take down license plate numbers. If he suspected anything he should have contacted Security of even the police. He deserves to lose his job. Once he decided to follow this man outside and take matters into his own hands he becomes a liability.

Walmart Employee,
So you actually have procedures that state to write down license plate numbers of people when the alarm goes off? OMG that is so lame. If they want to prosecute someone for shoplifting, shouldn't they have the security camera tape or are they too cheap to pay for that? That seems like an awful lot of trouble to go thru to keep costs down from people stealing the cheap crap that is at walmart. What a waste of time.

He's probably lying because if somebody called you a racial slur why punch them in the face (more liability) when you can use the race card against them so they can get fired? It doesn't sound like he wasn't trying to get revenge on the guy he was just trying to get the fuck outta there.

Three words: NEW WORLD ORDER

Maybe I'm confused but it definitely looks like the worker is the one who threw the first punch and it also looks like he's much bigger than the thief and held his own in the fight. Not sure if the facts are straight here.

To Pamela and Rocki, the different colored names are for URLs. The next time you post something, put www.google.com or something in the URL below the e-mail field and your name will be colored too. It's so that people can post their personal links or any link they choose. Sometimes, when the names are colored, people have inadvertantly put something in that field and it tries to hyperlink anyway. Pretty much any website where you can post comments will have this field and subsequently a hyperlink will be added to the user name. It's really no conspiracy. Also, Sandy or whatever your name is now, I wasn't trying to attack you when saying that I didn't think those people worked for TCR. I was just simply giving my take on the situation. You gave your opinion, I gave mine. It wasn't personal.

I haven't bought from Walmart for almost 10 years. No amount of savings, cajoling or advertising from them will ever change my mind. They are a pox on the American retail industry.

I agree that he should not have gotten fired, but it does make sense. Walmart has a "no chase" policy, they also will not call the police on you for shoplifting. This employee broke a store rule probably something that he agreed not to do when he started employment. What he did caused a lot of negative attention and could possibly affect Walmart's business. They have cameras to get peoples license plate numbers, they do not need a guy to run out and get in a physical fight with a customer.

Concerned Citizen,
Thanks, I think maybe people are copy/pasting comments they have already made on another site and want to make the same comment here? It's hard not to be paranoid after all the poser crap. I'm sure Seth is still here but has toned it way down.

I'm pretty sure he is somewhere close by too just waiting for a chance to throw something out there. That's fine though, I don't think many will fall for his bait anymore. As far as the commenters, I believe that some people just put generic comments so that they can advertise their own personal sites. I remember one person specifically that commented on several stories and claimed the link he put in his post had more information on the subject. I am pretty sure he was just advertising for personal gain. It may even be a fraudulent or spam type site. I'll see if I can find the posts so you can know what I'm talking about.

An employee @ a Wal-Mart in Az. was leaving the store with outdated products without a receipt proving they had permission to take it. My mother was a door greeter and tried to have the person reported for not having proof they were allowed to leave with this product. She was fired too and myself and the family believe she was set up by some "locals" that worked there.

Rocki, here are two of the instances that I saw:

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/01/chris_grant_caught_on_elevator.php#comments

jake said:
i would like to get this guy in an elevator with my giant schnauzer and see how tough he is http://bit.ly/6M36fl

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/01/john_farren_former_bush_white.php#comments

Watching Bush Figures said:
Sure this matters politically - if this guy was abusive while he was the #2 lawyer in the White House, he should have been removed from his position for something less stressful. That may have prevented this unfortunate episode.
Many don't realize what Farren's department was involved in. His boss made unprecedented claims that White House lawyers (just like him) should get never-ending, everlasting immunity from subpoenas. This changed the way executive privilege worked in the past, saying the President's advisors have special protection from criminal investigations, unlike average Americans.
Much more here: http://bit.ly/663TTK

The last time I checked, any website ending in ".ly" is hosted by Lybia. I may be wrong, but I'm always cautious about random sites because they may be viral. This is just a warning to people. If I'm paranoid, that's fine too.

The reason the old man was fired is obvious. Engaging in a physical anything with a customer puts that man as a liability to walmart. What if the old guy had won and there were no stolen goods? What if he had a heartattack? We know who would get sued and sued quickly. Any job anywhere will tell you if you see something illegal you are to observe and report not become some kind of vigilante because this crap might happen. Walmart has no "right" to search your bag any more then your purse or wallet. All they can do is ask you, if you say no then there next course of action is to file a police report or get security because security has insurance covering there liability. This man does not. The outcome of this scenario is proof why rules like that are in place. Way to go grandpa, now walmart looks evil when you broke the rules trying to be a hero. It is awesome looking at it from a non employer angle though, he creamed that kid.

For some reason, before I clicked on this link I thought to myself: "I bet this happened in a Florida Walmart". Why do most of the disturbing Walmart events happen in Florida?

Rocki, two of them were:
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/01/chris_grant_caught_on_elevator.php#comments - username "jake"

and

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2010/01/john_farren_former_bush_white.php#comments - username "Watching Bush Figures"

On both, this user posts a website with the address ending in ".ly" and I'm pretty sure that .ly is for Lybia web addresses. It may be a legit site, but I am not taking any chances considering that he/she seemed to post on several stories by adding similar web addresses.

I worked for Wal-Mart for a year in the automotive department part-time while in school in Ontario, Canada.

I can't comment on their US operations because I know little about it, but my job their in Canada was great for a student and I was treated fairly and with respect by all involved. They were flexible around my schedule for school and friendly and accomodative in general.

You can't fight with customers like this employee did, it's a lawsuit waiting to explode, this shoplifter will probably get a payout. You're supposed to let them go and alert security, it's part of the training. Let him take the friggin clipboard dummy.

Pete Kotz said:

I hear you, Matt, and yours is probably the reasonable take. But don't you worry about the country when ou most feared men are little pointy heads who threaten to hurl menacing paperwork at you? For some reason, it makes me think of William Wallace's words on freedom. If I ever begin to factor in lawyers as a principal ingredient for my actions, please shoot me.

Walmart policy does not allow any employee, not even security staff to attempt to detain someone who is stealing. It leads the injuries like this, which cost the company more than the item that are being stolen. They are suppose to make a mental note of the persons appearance and report to their manager, who will report the crime to the police and provide any evidence they might have.

He was fired for not following a company policy that is designed to prevent this sort of incident from happening in the first place. He could have been seriously hurt or even killed, over what was probably less than $100 in merchandise.

It's also interesting that they have footage of the outside ares included when Skyler is running away, but it's conveniently missing when both Skyler and Ed when outside.

In addition, if you look closely at the footage after Skyler re-entered the store with the clipboard in hand they are stuggling over the clipboard, and Ed throws a big right hand punch at Skyler.

Skyler should not have taken the clipboard, and that is probably what caused this to escalate, but let's not pretend that Ed was a poor old innocent old man. He has a considerable size, height and reach advantage over Skylar and didn't seem even remotely phased by the punch.

Aaaaaand...that big right handed punch from Ed was the FIRST one thrown...

Actually, greeters DO NOT have the right to look into your bag when going out of a store. Once you show them a receipt, it should be proof enough that you paid for your items. If an alarm sounds, they can request a search whereby you can refuse. The next step is for them to call a police officer and they can search your bag under "probable cause". The twoe reasons people allow greeters to look through their packages are ignorance and "to get it over with".

the man wanted a fight, the man got a fight. Nothing wrong here folks, move along

Nick and rcorrino are both right, but not only is it against WalMart policy to detain employees, it is AGAINST THE LAW.

I work security in Michigan for a store similar to Walmart. Our store has hidden cameras constantly being monitored by loss prevention personnel. It is loss prevention's duty, not security's to go after shoplifters and certainly not a door greeters duty. And when loss prevention does go after a shoflifter, they are told never to leave the sidewalk outside the store. Never go in to the parking lot after anyone. This week a young man working loss prevention at a KMart store in Michigan went after a thief who had stolen $400 in vidoes. The L/P employee followed the shoplifter to his car where they fought. Tragically, the thief and his girlfriend, the driver of the car, drove away, dragging the loss prevention employee with them. He lost his life during this altercation,which is very sad.These 2 low-life bandits now face first degree murder charges, which they certainly deserve. It would be very unwise for a store greeter to go after a person on the grounds that they think they may have stolen an item. Proof is the only thing that will stand up in court. I work retail security, alongside loss prevention, and our security officers are not ever allowed to pursue a shoplifter. We can look at receipts, check carts, but if it isn't on camera, then it doesn't count. We call 911 when loss prevention requests us to do so, or if there is an obvious situation that requires immediate help. The Walmart door greeter did not use sound judgement. However, it is hard to tell from the video exactly what went on between the two men. I am thinking that Walmart did not do a proper job in training this particular door greeter. I am sure he has a good lawyer waiting to jump on this case.

This whole incident seeing a punk fight an older man got my blood going. Yes, perhaps the greeter could of done something else, but he reacted like he did, checking the bag, and reacting to getting punched in the face. I wish Walmart would of taken a different direction, maybe suspending the individual. But firing him? Skyler was wrong for striking the greeter. He was WRONG! Any normal person would of complied and showed the reciept to the greeter. Okay, it takes what, a few seconds of our valuable time, but we are not animals, just punching out anyone who we feel. Funny how these people who start punching people out who work at Walmart have criminal records to begin with. SHAME ON WALMART! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!

First of all, if you've never worked for Walmart, shut up. Really, you have no idea what goes on in that hell hole. It's one of the shittiest jobs I've ever had the misfortune of doing, but you know what? It's a PAYCHECK, so I have to suck it up, even though, I work everyday, fearing I might be fired. Will it be the end of the world, if I am? No.. But it'll still suck for a while, at any rate. Secondly, door greeters are WM are basically told to "HARASS" people who set off the alarms, just so you know, lol. The whole ordeal was caught on tape, some dumb kid punches a senior citizen, because more than likely he was stealing, and then he plays the race card because he is black, the the greeter he ASSAULTED happens to be white. Get a life. I hope that old man sues the shit out of the store for not having better security to protect him, and for some dumbfuck having him lose his job, for simply DEFENDING himself. Racial slur, my ass.

Thousands of people have thrown away fabulous jobs in order to keep thier pride in tact.. Wal-mart is not a fabulous job. Way to keep up the fight, grandpa!!

I work at Walmart. I am a cashier, however I do work at the door several times a week to help out when needed. First let me say that it is STRONGLY advised when you are hired you NEVER do anything to restrain or catch someone you may think is shoplifting. You call management and do nothing more. He never should have chased after the guy in the first place. He was not fired for defending himself. He was fired for not following store policy, one which he signed and agreed to when he was hired on. The policy is there to protect employees and customers from just this type of situation.
Employees do not conduct searches or search bags. They do check receipts, only when items are NOT in a bag, which has actually been stopped as of Thursday. (I don't know if it was cause of this situation, however I am thinking it might be) If a search is necessary then the police are called to conduct it.

I have to admit the story itself had me intrigued until I watched the video. For as much as I was prepared to side with the door greeter the video does not help his cause. The only thing the video shows was a pissed off customer, who actually was found to not have stolen anything, being pushed by the door greeter. Unless there is more video showing an altercation in the parking lot the door greeter WENT WAY TO FAR....

The Wal-Mart greeter was at fault, and probably racist too.

...the crime here is working for America's Worst Employer....

The door greeter is an Idiot ! You never follow anyone suspected of stealing outside of the store and thats Wal Marts Policy

this must be walmarts way of saying "please steal from us and if an employee tries to stop you we'll fire there ass. we don't care if you steal from us because the taxpayers are paying for it anyways,so we lose nothing. we just write it off ! steal away" If I worked there I sure as hell wouldn't try to stop ANYBODY from walking out the door with anything. not my job, call the cops. hope this poor old guy learned his lesson about doing ONLY what you get paid for.

I think it's pretty damn sad that in the supposed greatest country in the world, this 69 year old man has to be working at all. he should be retired and fishing or traveling or something. not working for a scumbag like wal-scum. hope all you people reading this are learning why non-unionism is a very bad thing. all businesses have there unions against employees (they call them associations though). non-union employees will keep going backwards in the future, you mark my words !!

What bag does this scum have? All I see if a thief leaving the store and the greeter going outside. Which if you notice is two-three steps to doing so. Then we see the scum come back gripping the greeters clipboard. The greeter was probably agitated at this thief. So he was a little force full trying to get it back. His actions did not warrant him getting punched!

As a disabled combat vet, I happen to be in terrible pain constantly, 24/7,and I use morphine to moderate it enough so I can move about. I naturally have alot of PTSD / psych. crap as well. Occassionally, I find it necessary to shop at Walmart (sorry)and I use those electric carts they provide to get around the store, and they require me to leave the cart near the entrance as I leave (assholes)and from there I hobble to my car with a forearm crutch. I had a greeter follow me out the door once, as he's shouting stop at me, because in his stupid mind I was going to make off with it. I rode it about 30 feet, ignoring him, as I parked it next to all of the outside shopping carts. As I stood up on my crutch, this asshole says, "why didn't you stop when I first told you to". As I hobbled past him, all I said to him was, "will you get the fuck away from me" and he stepped back as I passed by him. That's how I handle Walmart greeters or anyone else for that matter,if they follow me out of the store while giving me shit. If they're foolish enough to put their hands on me, I will tell them once to take their hands off of me, as I draw my switchblade. If I percieve the level of threat to be higher, then I draw my .38 special, both of which I carry concealed. At 59 years of age, and in the physical condition I'm in, I don't go around looking for fights. But, I am prepared to finish them if it's called for. That's all folks, Robert

the slogan "the customer is always right" is something lowlife walmart is sticking to.it also does not want to be labeled as hiring a probable racist. i have shoppped their before because i found the prices to be cheaper,but have always found it odd, annoying and also embarrassing to have to show your sales slip and them looking though your bag before you exit. security cameras,sure, security alarm,sure but that is not customer friendly. i also wondered before i read this story how walmart stayed in business when other stores have folded. now i'm really confused. no more walmart for me. their old slogan changing from "always low prices" to "save money live better" should be "thanks for coming,hope you didn't rip us off".

Truly the worst company in the world. Yet people still shop them go figure.

Wal-Mart is not a good place to work. they are no longer for their employees, they will give you a "D" day for the most stupid things. If you are a full time employee you better watch out. They will fire you then fight not to pay you unemployment. I know this from experiance. I tell everyone not to work for them.

Walmart creates a partial vacuum!

He can't sue Wal-Mart because of the fact that Florida is a right to fire state. The way Wal Mart sees it is that he is a probable insurance problem. If he had gotten injured because of leaving the store then it would be on the insurance to pay for his medical bills and he would get workers compensation. I've personally heard from a few people that the rules are that you do not leave the building as an employee and most places brief you of this. Many accidents have occurred from an employee chasing a person that ends badly for the company. Some resulting in injury or death. This in turn, is bad for the company. Stealing is wrong but injuring someone is more wrong. (bad grammer intended)

um... yall realize that the greeter does NOT have the right to look into your shopping bag when the alarm goes off - right? to have credible evidence of shoplifting in a court of law an employee needs to see someone take merchandise without paying for it and attempt to leave the store. an alarm going off doesnt qualify.

Too bad he wasn't carrying and just shot the pissant! End of story!!!

I dont know where the rest of you get your information, but in ANY retail store, the policy is to never chase after potential shoplifters. One of the reasons being is that the store can get sued if someone gets hurts, especially if it turns out they stole nothing. So if they run out the door, they aren't allowed to chase after them. If they do set off the alarm and they willingly come with you and wait for police that is something else entirely. This old guy was fired for breaking THAT policy, NOT defending himself. Walmart had every right, as I see this possibly going to court

I was at walmart back in Nov 09 when i was shopping I walked out of WalMart with my bf n best friend when some employee followed me all the way to our car yelling out my name telln me I was told on Fri I couldn't come back into WalMart granted I hadn't been into WalMart in Over 2mnths who had just been there on the Fri had stolen from WalMart and used my name wtf that anger me so bad but being who I am I let it go! I stopped going to that WalMart after that for you to follow me to my car and say I did something when I know damn well I never was in there. What kind of shit is that how can someone use ur name and then when I asked him wtf he was talkn about he was like oh im sorry must have been mistaken identity come on now I've been mistaken for alot of people who steal n do things where im from in Oklahoma. Why would I steal from somewhere that is so cheap on their items? If I can't afford it then I sure in hell don't need it my grandma raised me better then that. So to say WalMart has disgusted me after that cuz i've been followed around WalMart b4 but blew it off n that is about to stop seriously!!!!

If the person that stole from Walmart only used your name, how did the person following you to your car know who you were? I mean that person that stole gave your name it was their face Walmart saw not yours. How did that person that followed you,figure out that the person that stole and used your name, belonged to you and had not seen you before?