Morrisons CEO to satisfy retailer supervisor ‘sacked’ for tackling a shoplifter
Morrisons CEO Rami Baitieh is set to meet ex-Aldridge store boss Sean Egan, who claims he was sacked after tackling a shoplifter who spat in his face, sparking a national storm of public support and political backing.
Store manager Sean Egan was dismissed after 29 years for confronting a shoplifter (Image: Sean Egan )
Morrisons boss Rami Baitieh is due to meet the Midlands branch manager whose dismissal for tackling a shoplifter ignited a national uproar.
As reported by the BBC, Mr Baitieh will meet former Aldridge store chief Sean Egan after he publicly shared his account of why he was let go by the supermarket chain earlier this year.
However, in his first public remarks on the issue, the CEO seemed to cast doubt on Mr Egan’s version of events.
Mr Egan claimed he confronted a shoplifter and grappled with him after being spat at, which allegedly violated the company’s ‘do not detain’ policy.
Aldridge-Brownshill MP Wendy Morton was among those who joined a protest against his dismissal at his old store on Saturday, April 25. He has also received support from other high-ranking politicians and the head of the Metropolitan Police, reports
Mr Baitieh remained silent about the sacking amid a media frenzy throughout the previous week, but is now scheduled to meet Mr Egan on Thursday, 29 April.
He stated that the chain had so far “refrained from detailed public comment because we do not believe that this would be helpful for Sean”.
Mr Batieth added: “To be clear, the public reporting of the incident does not reflect the full facts of the situation or fully consider the unintended consequences that can occur when colleagues physically confront criminals.”
Mr Egan expressed his desire for the meeting to “get my point across”.
He stated: “I’ve reached out many times to try to get my views and the things they haven’t followed process-wise and it’s been ignored on every occasion”.
Following a chat with BirminghamLive, Mr Egan, 46, made an appearance on Good Morning Britain where he described Morrisons as feeling like ‘family’.
A GoFundMe page has been established to gather funds for him after he revealed he had missed several mortgage payments due to his dismissal.
Approaching the target sum of £20,000, over £18,365 has already been collected for the Black Country worker.
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