Lawyer for single mother fired from grocery store after confronting shoplifter blamed the company He said he is considering suing for lost wages after a judge sided with his client last week.
A Safeway grocery store has fired Antoinette Baez, who stopped a shoplifter from leaving a San Mateo store with $500 worth of merchandise in 2023, her attorney said.
Attorney Neil Eisenberg said the retail chain has a policy that prevents employees from interacting with shoplifters.
Baez said he did not touch the shoplifter, but did try to grab the shopping bag he was trying to steal. When her robber tried to hit Ms. Baez, her supervisor, David Arevalos, pushed her away to protect Ms. Baez.
The woman left without taking anything she had tried to steal.
Baez initially described the store’s director as a caring and caring person. He then fired Arevalos for having sex with the thief, and also fired Baez. The company announced that she was guilty of misconduct and that she would not receive unemployment benefits because of this.
Baez said he has worked for the company for 22 years, starting when he was 16 years old, and has been an exemplary worker throughout that time.
“When I heard that, it just felt like I was punched in the gut,” she said. “Coming from a place of transparency and honesty, I was devastated that it somehow worked against me.”
She said she was struggling as a single mother and decided to fight back legally.
Baez initially lost the case, but won on appeal. An Administrative Employment Development Department judge found that she had not served her time when she confronted the shoplifter and that she had been unfairly fired.
“Plaintiff was aware of her employer’s customer service shoplifting policy and could be fired for performing her duties without warning, whether on or off duty,” Judge K.A. Duncan wrote in the decision. I didn’t know that,” he said.
As a result of the ruling, Baez will receive one year’s worth of unemployment benefits. Her attorney had strong words against Safeway and its mistreatment of her customers.
“The judge said she was fired for doing her job and basically said the state of California supported her. And she defeated Safeway in the state lawsuit,” the attorney said.
Eisenberg said this is no different than a national arrest because Baez was not at work. He also condemned the store’s actions.
“Safeway has not contacted her. They have not offered her her job back. They have not offered to pay her a year of lost wages,” he said. Ta.
He also accused the company of treating its employees worse than retail thieves.
“Safeway is a food bank for thieves,” he said. “It’s better to steal from Safeway than pay for merchandise or groceries, because when you pay for merchandise or groceries, you’re absorbing the cost of shoplifting.”
He plans to file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the store and seek $1 million in punitive damages.
“If you are caught shoplifting, you will be released without any repercussions,” Eisenberg continued. “This is probably the most stupid and cruel incident I have ever experienced.”
Safeway did not respond to KTVU’s request for comment.
San Mateo is a city of approximately 105,000 people located 32 miles south of San Francisco.
Here’s local news about the ruling:
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
