Archived Target sued for death of young man.

[oath2order]

There are ways to not make it a perp walk, they don't bother trying to keep it quiet.

Kind of hard to keep "a team member being escorted outside by a police officer" quiet.

 

[commiecorvus]

Kind of hard to keep "a team member being escorted outside by a police officer" quiet.

Depends on the layout of the store but in most it would be easy to get someone out with very few people knowing about it.

 

[greeneyez]

Being AP..there's something big missing in the news story. It doesn't make sense knowing our policy, something had to happen the news isn't saying

This happened in another state yet the same thing happened at our store except the employee didn't commit suicide like this young man did. The AP was actually smiling after doing that. I guess it's just another thing Target likes to do to their hardworking, min wage, loyal employees. I don't think they would ever do this to an ETL though and less likely they'd do this to a DM.

 

[nolongerspecial]

My store handles these things extremely discreetly. No one never even knows it happens until well after the fact usually. The main entrance is never used, for example. It can be done, I guess it just matters how your store is laid out, and the people involved.

 

[Guest]

I hope the family gets a big pay day. The guy shouldn't have been treated like that. And where was compassion and tolerance on the part of the STL and ETLs on this incident? Just a sad story but that's one of the negative things about retail. It can destroy you.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

This happened in another state yet the same thing happened at our store except the employee didn't commit suicide like this young man did. The AP was actually smiling after doing that. I guess it's just another thing Target likes to do to their hardworking, min wage, loyal employees. I don't think they would ever do this to an ETL though and less likely they'd do this to a DM.

I HIGHLY doubt they would actually put someone described as loyal and hardworking. In handcuffs for no reason. I realize this person may have had mental issues... I I myself am bipolar, and hyperactive.... Yet probably knowingly... loyal to a fault

I have had the same thoughts as this kid has probably had before he left this world, every other week since I was about 14 years old. I realize it is NOT a joke, but I can tell you before this happened the kid thought about it before hand, and this was what "may" have put him over the edge. You don't jump off a building because you got fired from Target.

Having been threatened with immediate termination, for coming forward with information a trainee told me, about an product he saw in a conspicuous place one day, that i didn't know ap already knew about...
I would say that this story is possibly blown out of proportion, as their protocol seems almost beyond rediculous.

 

[redstripes]

I can't wait to see the lawsuit she slaps on the police department and the Marriott for the role they played in this.

As the news clip said, the attorney was the one to use the term "walk of shame", not the Target store or company itself. An employee doesn't get handcuffed for something like a seasonal term, attendance issues, or time clock fraud, something that would warrant a security issue had to be involved. As for "paraded around the store", the sensationalism used in this statement is absolutely ridiculous.

While I feel bad for the mother for her loss, the lawyer should be ashamed of his intentional generation of publicity of this family's tragedy. Maybe he can have a suit placed on him for "parading her through the media".

 

[redeye58]

Nah, most folks' stores on here prefer 'perp walk'.
You really think that leadership is going to admit to using such a term?
There's a lot more to this than meets the eye but I don't think all the claims are outrageous given what goes on around in some stores.
As Commie always says:
All Stores Are Not The Same.

 

[GangulonCyst]

I have seen the "perp walk", "walk of shame" or whatever moniker you want to give it done many times over my years at Target. Even when TSC has an employee only entrance, the cops are asked to walk the "perp" past the full length of the checklanes to make sure the most TM's see them as possible. Innocent until proven guilty does not apply at Target.

 

[Life201]

The problem with folks on the high end of the spectrum is they often can function very well within certain parameters.
They may be socially awkward but as long as what they need to do is well defined and the parameters are laid out they can excel.
Most people who have those kinds of conditions are fiercely loyal and care deeply about what their jobs.
Just don't get in their face or drag them out of their comfort zones.

I am speculating here.
I don't know the circumstances so I can only guess but I'd imagine that if they grabbed him and took him to the office, no matter what the circumstances, he went into defense mode.
A very extreme kind of fight or flight that we all experience but that he had no control over.
If they had called his mom and had her come down, it might have gone differently but he's technically an adult so that wasn't going to happen.

It's ugly and sad, all the way round.
Handled badly and without thought for someone who had no way of really defending themselves.

That's the problem. We just don't have enough facts about this particular case.

The only thing that had me confused was that he was handcuffed, arrested but NOT charged with anything.

 

[Life201]

From my personal experience unless you are officially disabled the company doesn't care what your issues are. Now that's not to say that no one cares because some of my ETLs have been very supportive and caring. But as far as I can tell unless they get a tax credit for hiring you you company policy is you get treated like everyone else even if its very clear you have an issue such as mental illness or autism.

I understand that. I really wasn't talking about the "official" policy - just what happened in this particular case.

 

[commiecorvus]

That's the problem. We just don't have enough facts about this particular case.

The only thing that had me confused was that he was handcuffed, arrested but NOT charged with anything.

Once again, not having facts, but knowing people with who are in the spectrum, it's very possible that he didn't handle being confronted very well.
What could have been a simple, you need to leave the store and go downtown to answer some questions, because there was no warning, no transition, became a major blow up.
Confronted with sudden change and confrontation, people with autism get overloaded.
They don't react in what would be considered a socially standard fashion.
Like I said, if they had called his mom, she might have have been able to bring the situation under control and keep it from becoming such a mess.

 

[Guest]

At the end of the day, a mom does not have her son. I hope Target pays dearly for this.

 

[RedMan]

At the end of the day, no amount of money from Target will bring her son back. Until we hear the whole story, which we probably won't, it's kinda hard to point fingers.

 

[commiecorvus]

At the end of the day, no amount of money from Target will bring her son back. Until we hear the whole story, which we probably won't, it's kinda hard to point fingers.

The money isn't to bring her son back.
It's to make sure they never do something like that again, so no other mother has to lose their son.
Because, sadly, the only language corporations understand is profit and lose.

 

[RedMan]

My point was that we don't know what happened. It could be that nothing Target did contributed to the death. Until we know what really happened, we can't pin the blame on Target. Or rather we shouldn't.

 

[Guest]

From what I've read, the guy had some medical issues and I'm sure Target treating him like that only made his issues even worse. No excuses. They basically hazed the guy and this isn't college. And hazing shouldn't be allowed anywhere. It's basically bullying someone but saying it's okay because they get something out of it.

 

[melvin]

At the end of the day, no amount of money from Target will bring her son back. Until we hear the whole story, which we probably won't, it's kinda hard to point fingers.

That isn't the point of a lawsuit like this. My grandmother died because of the negligence of a healthcare facility. My father and I wanted to sue them, but the rest of the family was unwilling. Every penny won in the lawsuit would have gone to my grandparents' charities. It was not about enriching ourselves, it was to be a punitive measure and a way to make them be more careful and think twice the next time, so another family doesn't lose a loved one under similar circumstances.

I can't believe some folks are denying the existence of the "walk of shame" in this thread. I've seen it referenced dozens of times on this forum and I can't believe that on every occasion those were the stores that had no secondary exit where they couldn't avoid marching the suspect out in front of team members and the public.

 

[JuicedSoftball1]

Before I come off as sounding heartless I will start with this.

A mother had to bury her son and no parent should have to outlive their child. I feel for this mother and I am sorry for her loss.

that being said.

You do not taken out in handcuffs at Target as an employee unless they have a open and shut case against you. Chances are he had been stealing for a very long time and finally the amount had reached a point that AP wanted to have him arrested.

I have never been in an internal bust but I do know that they will try and get you to admit to as much as possible to build an even bigger case against you. They will try and make you sign a paper saying you will payback all that you have taken etc. They call this the easy way. They threaten further action against you if you basically do not admit to wrong doing right than and there. It is possible that he admitted to wrong doing and Target decided to just let the case go. Believe it or not its not always worth Targets time for the smaller stealing crimes.

That also being said I have also watched them walk people around in handcuffs to have the stealing employee show them where they dumped empty packages etc. Again they let you build a case against yourself if you are willing to corporate.

Unless they took this employee and walked him around in handcuffs and yelled "LOOK THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHEN YOU STEAL FROM TARGET" I dont see how they would have a case against Target. You can talk about "guilty before being proven innocent" all you want but he obviously did something arrest worthy so being escorted out in handcuffs doesn't make is suing worthy. Do not want to get taken out in handcuffs? Dont break the law.....

Like I said I feel for the mother who has lost her child but lets not act like his actions didn't lead to him being arrested.

 

[oath2order]

I can't believe some folks are denying the existence of the "walk of shame" in this thread.

One thing you need to know is that the "walk of shame" is not an official policy.

One thing that people who think it is an official policy need to remember commie's line.

ALL STORES ARE NOT THE SAME.

 

[Signkitty]

I still want to know how this young man enlisted in the army and if mom would have sued them had they driven him to kill himself.

 

[commiecorvus]

@JuicedSoftball1
My problem with the idea that they busted him for an open and shut case of stealing is the fact that the police didn't charge him.
There is nothing in the records about him being accused of stealing, something I'm sure Spot would have gotten out there if they could.
The only thing mentioned is a confrontation between him and a coworker out of work.
Was it an unsafe workplace thing because of something he said and they called the police because people are afraid of things they don't understand?
Who knows at this point.

 

[redeye58]

What if he was in a heated argument with this other team member?
What if this other TM knew about his mental state & fabricated a story to - at the very least - get him fired?
What if leadership fell for it because this other TM was considered credible & are back-pedaling because they don't want to admit they fell for a lie gone terribly wrong?
IF that were the case, it's not just the fault of the TM who lied but leadership who failed to verify the truth.
Just a theory while we're waiting for the deets.

 

[melvin]

One thing you need to know is that the "walk of shame" is not an official policy.

One thing that people who think it is an official policy need to remember commie's line.

ALL STORES ARE NOT THE SAME.

I'm already aware of that. Whether it is official policy or not does not tell us how pervasive it is. It also does not mean that this fact absolves Target from liability for the actions of its employees.

 

[melvin]

I still want to know how this young man enlisted in the army and if mom would have sued them had they driven him to kill himself.

If parents could sue the military for driving their children to suicide, we would have a waiting list numbering in the thousands.