Sean Egan said he had “never felt so unheard, unseen, and disposable” following the dismissal
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Sean Egan had worked for the chain since he was 17.
Picture:
Sean Egan
A long-serving Morrisons manager has said he has never felt so “unheard, unseen, and disposable” after he was sacked for tackling a shoplifter to the ground.
Sean Egan had worked for the branch in Aldridge, Walsall, for 29 years but his tenure came to an abrupt end when he was let go for restraining a thief.
The worker said he was stocking shelves when he noticed a well-known shoplifter entered the supermarket.
Not long afterwards, he was told that the same man was seen putting bottles of Jack Daniel’s whiskey into a bag.
Read more: Shoplifting soars by 133% in five years as retailers warn of increasingly ‘brazen’ thieves
Read more: Iceland boss offers job to Waitrose worker sacked after tackling Easter egg shoplifter
Morrisons in Aldridge, West Midlands.
Picture:
Alamy
The 46-year-old said he put himself in a position to protect staff and customers and despite contacting the police, an investigation was launched after the incident which led to his dismissal.
Posting on his LinkedIn account, Mr Egan wrote: “I don’t think people understand what this really does to someone.
“Just 3 weeks before Christmas… was asking myself one question. How am I going to give my kids the Christmas they deserve?
“I joined Morrisons at 17. It wasn’t just a job. It was my identity. My life. My purpose. 29 years of loyalty.
“And now… it’s gone. Not only have I lost my career. I’ve never felt so unheard, unseen, and disposable in my entire life.
“What hurts the most? Three decades of my life… gone in a moment.”
“I’m posting this because people need to understand the real human impact behind decisions like this.
Because behind every story there’s a person trying to hold it together.”
Explaining what happened, he said: “He was very aggressive and spitting at me. As the store manager, I put myself in a position to protect my staff and customers.
“There’s a lot of pressure in retail to protect the product, to not lose money.”
Mr Egan said he was told he would be dismissed on the grounds he didn’t follow the company’s “deter-and-not-detain policy”.
He added: “As part of the policy for me as the store manager, it is to escort him out the premises yet as I was doing so he was very aggressive and spitting at me.
“I stepped forward and I flung my arm back – that was my instant reaction. I grabbed his arm to stop him entering his bag to grab something, and then an altercation happened.
“My thought is, ‘I’ve got to stop this guy. I don’t know what he’s going to do, not only to me, but anybody else’.”
It comes weeks after Waitrose employee was dismissed following a similar incident after he stopped a suspected shoplifter from stealing Easter eggs.
A Morrisons spokesperson said it has guidance which includes “detailed procedures for handling shoplifting incidents”.
Picture:
Getty
Mr Egan, who worked at the chain since he was a teenager, admitted he is now struggling to find work again.
The father said: “It’s difficult to get on with my normal life, it’s impacted my personal life – with my children, my partner and socially.
“My last pay was in January, and we’re barely surviving. I’ve given so much to a business where I’ve actually lived for work but it in that moment I felt like everything I had given was attacked.”
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We are continuing to take wide-ranging action to address the threat of shoplifting or violence in our stores.
“The health and safety of all colleagues and customers is of paramount importance to Morrisons. We have very clear guidance, procedures and controls in place to protect our colleagues and customers from the risk of harm, which must be strictly followed.
“These include detailed procedures for handling shoplifting incidents, which are in place to protect both the colleague involved and surrounding colleagues and customers, and which seek to de-escalate and calmly control the situation.
“We will not ask colleagues to put themselves at risk.
“As a responsible employer, our focus is entirely on taking the correct action to ensure health and safety is maintained at all times.”