NO STRETCHING THE RULES: Lululemon defends firing staffers for confronting thieves

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Lululemon’s CEO is standing by his decision to fire two Georgia employees who confronted three masked thieves.

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Calvin McDonald cited the company’s “zero-tolerance policy” for axing the two women, insisting they should not have engaged with the robbers.

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“We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators (employees) on around engaging during a theft,” McDonald told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street.

He clarified that the two staffers, one of whom was an assistant manager, were not let go for calling the police, but that they didn’t follow the retailer’s policy to not engage with thieves.

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The employees, Jennifer Ferguson and Rachel Rogers, told WXIA that they were aware of the policy, but were not given “specific reasoning” on their firings.

Rogers filmed the robbery on her phone, while Ferguson argued that the trio’s robbery – in which they “swiped until they couldn’t hold any more product and ran out the door” – went against company policy.

“We are not supposed to get in the way. You kind of clear a path for whatever they’re going to do,” Ferguson told the local outlet at the time. “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.”

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The women said that it was the call to cops that cost them their jobs, but a Lululemon spokesperson denied their claims.

“They were terminated for knowingly violating our zero-tolerance policy related to physically engaging with the perpetrators, which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk,” the spokesperson told the outlet at the time.

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McDonald said rules are rules.

“We put the safety of our team, of our guest front and centre. It’s only merchandise,” he told CNBC.

“They’re trained to step back, let the theft occur, know that there’s technology and there’s cameras and we’re working with law enforcement.”

Instead, video shows the employees engaging with the thieves, following them out of the store and watching as they run to their car.

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They reported the robbery to the Gwinnett Police Department, which later tracked down the suspects. They face felony robbery charges.

McDonald told CNBC: “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. And the policy is to protect them.

“But we have to stand behind the policy to enforce it.”

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