Donald Lynch, certified public accountant, was convicted of misdemeanor assault after pushing a 75-year-old Walmart greeter who wanted to check his receipt, reports The Chronicle. Lynch said the greeter tried to block him by pushing against him with his shoulder. Security tape showed the greeter flying to the floor. While an employee has no right to touch you, you also don’t have a right to shove them on the floor, especially if they’re septuagenarian!
PREVIOUSLY: Man On Trial For Knocking Down Walmart Receipt Checker
More From Consumerist
-
A Look Back At Customer-On-Greeter Violence At Walmart
-
Wells Fargo Fires Customer Service Rep For Using Cardboard Dime At Laundromat 50 Years Ago
-
Lying To Customer About A Winning £1M Lottery Ticket To Claim Winnings Himself Earns Man Deportation In UK
-
Women Forget The “Take The Baby With You” Part Of Their Walmart Shoplifting Plan
-
TV Station’s Attempt At Being Twitter-iffic Just Ends Up Confusing Journalist With Convicted Rapist
@aaron8301:
I agree 100% with you Aaron. It doesn’t matter how old yo are. If you shove me, I will shove you back. Period. I don’t care if you are 20 or 73. I hope he appeals the conviction.
You know, I can really see this as getting to the point where someone will get killed over the receipt. You have road rage, now there will be receipt rage.
Eh a good example of ageism.
If blocking customers at the door is in your job description then start working out old man. I know how insensitive that sounds but on the flip he wouldn’t be getting the extra attention for being 75.
Shit the media attention and lawsuits and other costs associated with stopping people at the door to make sure they aren’t stealing cant possibly compare to the loss of merchandise any customer could even pull out of there while dual weilding shopping carts STUFFED
Yes there’s a right to self defense, but I believe it has to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the original risk. You can’t kill someone because they shoved you…
The CPA over-reacted
Don’t be a bunch of baby-punchers :
(warning some profanity in video)
By the way, I know the CPA didn’t kill him…but pushing him to the ground was a bit much, especially considering he’s older and that makes him physically weaker.
It’s just someone else said they could use ‘deadly force’ in self defense. I’m pretty sure you can’t do that for just any old self-defense reason.
@ManiacDan: So a 75 year old man pushes you and you pull out your gun and shoot him, which results in his death.
Yeah that sounds pretty balanced to me.
Please be sure to let me know what the judge says when you rationalize such an action with the statement, “Well Judge I live in Texas and this guy shoved me so I was only exercising my Legal right to defend myself with deadly force?”
Why do stores even check receipts any more? It doesn’t prevent shrinkage. It just wastes people’s time and annoys paying customers.
From the last few times I’ve been to Best Buy, the security guy at the exit doesn’t even ask. He just looks you up and down to make sure you’re not hiding a washing machine under your coat, then smiles, and tells you to have a nice day.
ATTN: Big Box Retail Stores..
Your employees steal from the store, more than the customers. How about hassling them instead?
And yet when I said: “Call the police if you want my receipt checked. I’ll wait.”
Some clueless morons flipped out and said I was being unreasonable.
I don’t care if the f*cker’s 150yo – if he touches me without my permission, he’s going DOWN.
you people are sad.
what if a 5 year old starts shoving you?
or a chihuahua bites your heel?
kick it ten feet in the air?
learn some common sense people.
an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
For those trying to support the “poor” underpaid employees, it is AGAINST Walmart policy to detain anyone for not showing their receipt. This greeter over-stepped his bounds both legally and with regards to corporate policy. He has no one to blame but himself.
@AlphaUltima: If a chihuahua starts biting my heel… then HELL YES I would punt that sucker across the yard… A dog needs to know its place…
@rmz: I have the wife roll the window down first. Car windows are expensive.
Criminal goes to jail.
@riverstyxxx: Please tell me your kidding about that. Self-defense? Was the old man gonna assault, rape, or kill him? A geriatric detaining non-forcefully at his place of work is by no means an imminent threat. If he felt his rights were being violated and there was no imminent threat of bodily harm, then he should have called the cops.
And if you were joking about that, well then I’m just an idiot.
@takotchi: You’re argument of “he started it first” will NEVER, and apparently has not held up in court.
“If somebody is in your way, you have to push them out of the way.”
You are simply taking the situation out of context. Within the context of the incident, the greeter asked the man to show his receipt and got in the man’s way. Any contact or not, there is no crime being commited. When the customer shoves the greeter to the floor in a malicious manner, a crime has been committed. Im not a lawyer, and i can tell that you are not a lawyer. A judge ruled that you cannot lawfully assault a store employee who asked a customer for a reciept.
This sort of problem occurs because the receipt checking places the employee who enforces the policy in jeopardy when doing his job. Stores that insist on receipt checking need to develop a system which doesn’t require checkers to put themselves in a position where they have to block customers from leaving.
I think the worst part about receipt checking is that it’s not about the customer stealing things but employees who use accomplices to sneak out items by not ringing them up. The customers are being inconvenienced by a problem which belongs to the store.
At the very least all customers should be clearly informed of such policies before entering the store and told they should not shop there if they disagree with that policy.
@rdldr1:
He was blocking Lynch from leaving so I believe that would be unlawful imprisonment. The criteria for that crime…
@aaron8301: I, for one, don’t doubt your masculinity for a second. You’ve convinced me.
@ShariC: It’s as simple as the fact that it is their ‘official’ policy not to enforce because they can’t. If they haven’t seen you take anything, all they can do is kick you out, and you are leaving anyway.
They could perhaps ban you from future visits at worst.
Now either they are putting pressure on employees or somehow letting them think they need to enforce this voluntary policy.
Even if they clearly stated before you made a purchase that you need to show the receipt, you could still choose not to do it since you already own the item. Once again, the most they could do is kick you out and/or ban you from future visits.
Because your transaction is already complete at the register, their power to make you cooperate just isn’t there…
1. Buy a chihuahua.
2. Staple receipt to dogs head.
3. Go to Walmart
4. When Greeter stops you for your receipt, whack him in the head with the chihuahua.
5. As he is falling to the ground ask him why people at the exit are called Greeters. Should they say hello as you are walking out?
6. Write to Consumerist and declare that it is your God-given right as an American to whack old people with dead dogs as long as you don’t shoplift as much as employees do.
@SOhp101: There is no such thing in the state of Washington. From crime prevention association of Washington:
[wscp.innw.com]
Detaining the Shoplifter
Before either the civil or the criminal penalties can be used, the retailer must first apprehend the shoplifter. If done correctly, the retailer exposes himself to little risk of false arrest suits.
State law allows you to detain a suspect if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person shoplifted in your store. The following are the critical elements to consider before making an apprehension:
* Did you or another reliable witness see the suspect conceal merchandise or remove it from the store? Before taking action on a witness report, verify that the witness will appear in court, if necessary.
* Are you positive that the merchandise concealed or taken was store property and not the property of the suspect?
* Are you sure that the merchandise was not replaced on the shelf?
* Had the suspect possibly already paid for this merchandise?
* Was the suspected shoplifter acting in a suspicious manner?
Although the law does provide that the concealment of merchandise creates an inference of intent, and that such concealment justifies detention, other suspicious actions will reinforce your position in court. “Criminal intent” can be inferred if the suspect’s movements are evasive or furtive.
I think they both were in the wrong. Myself I wouldn’t have shoved him, I would have simply opened my cell phone and dialed 911, and while on the phone, I would explain to the 911 operator I was being un-lawfuly detained by wal-mart, and to please send an officer. I’ve done the same thing at Costco, and they back off as soon as I made the threat to call the police. And for you pansies out there that say oh well you signed a contract with costco, I didn’t sign my right away to stand in a long line at checkout, then another huge line at the door. I had recently had knee surgery, I was in a lot of pain by the time I got to the stupid receipt check line, so I simply walked around it. Then they went nuts, chased after me, telling me to stop, now this was actually outside the store, they blocked my vehicle. So I told the twit, I was calling the police. They moved, I called corp, that if they ever unlawfully detained me again, that I would sue them. I got an apology from he Manager the next day.
@RandoX: Chuck Norris doesn’t age, he ferments.
@stuartny: Why is it necessary for the dog to die!? I think he could survive.
@RandoX, rwakelan, CharlieSeattle: Yes, ideally they are only allowed to invoke shopkeepers’ privilege when they have reasonable suspicion, but they can BS their way into justifying their actions to a cop, and you leaving the ‘alleged scene’ and forcing the cop to track you down isn’t going to help your side of the story.
I strongly believe that every person should refuse to show his/her receipt and I strongly believe in rights to privacy but that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes showing a receipt will easily alleviate a situation that can eat up hours of your time.
When you’re leaving and they ask you to see your receipt, refuse. If they don’t let you leave the store, calmly let them know of your rights, that they are violating them, and that you will let corporate as well as the police know of their unethical/illegal behavior if they still refuse to let you leave. When the cops come (if it still comes to this), then make sure you tell everything in a calm and manner.
What normally happens when a person gets in the way of a moving object? They risk getting knocked the fuck down, right? If I’m walking out a store and you decide to step in front of me, we are going to collide and one or both of us are going to fall down. Who fault would that be, mine for trying to go about my business my lawfully acquired merchandise or yours for trying to impede my movement because you have an unfounded belief that I am a thief? You saw me and intentionally got in my way.
Receipt checking at all these stores is a crock. You want proof of purchase? Review the video that you have of the cashiers and you will see me pay for my items. Think I stole something? Then say so and have proof. Don’t have proof? Then you shouldn’t be stopping me in the first place.
He shouldn’t have pushed to old man but I for one have a thing about being touched physically by strangers. They’re told ONCE, not to touch, after that they’re picking their teeth up. Guy tried to have arrested for drifting him one in the chops once. He explained the situation, Cop looked at him and said you assaulted him, he defended himself, pray he doesn’t want to press charges stop wasting our time. I though about having him hauled off, but I figured a fat lip, and being humiliated in front of his wife and daughter as well as the people on the street was plenty.
BTW. “May I see your receipt please”, answered by a stern “fuck off” whilst still moving is just as effective.
This has been on my “pisses me off list” for a couple of years now. I decided to write to Best Buy, which frosts my butt the most, and find out what their “official” policy is. Received the following back:
——————
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:12:52 -0500 (CDT)
From: “Best Buy Consumer Relations” Add Mobile Alert
To: [address]
Subject: Re: General Questions
Thank you for contacting Best Buy about your recent store experiences.
I’m Kristopher with Consumer Relations.
I apologize for any frustration that you have experienced when exiting
our stores. Currently, Best Buy has a policy of asking to see
customers’ receipts at the store’s exit. This procedure protects our customers
by verifying that they have been charged for the correct product(s).
Compliance to this request is voluntary, and customers are not required to
present their receipt upon leaving the store.
It is my understanding that the majority of our stores are aware of
this policy. So that I can follow up with any stores that may not be in
full compliance, please reply with the store locations that you visited
that displayed the actions that you described.
Thank you for sharing your comments with Best Buy. Please do not
hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.
———
So there you go. Let’s hope that my local BB is one of the “majority”.