Fired Circle K clerk sues after shoplifter interaction

(NewsNation) — A former Circle K clerk is suing the convenience store chain, claiming she was wrongfully terminated for interacting with a shoplifter.

In October 2020, NewsNation affiliate KDVR based out of Denver reports Tyler Wimmer walked into a Circle K store in Westminster, Colorado, with a knife in one hand and a sealed package containing a knife in the other.

According to the outlet, Wimmer asked store clerk Mary Ann Moreno, then 72 years old, for a pack of cigarettes for free and she refused. As Wimmer snatched the cigarettes, video shows Moreno briefly grabbing his arm and then backing away.

“When he came around that fast, he was, like, right there. And I, like, freaked out, you know? And I just went like that,” she said, indicating that she pushed the suspect to create distance. “Well, supposedly, I guess I grabbed his arm. I don’t remember that, but I push him, and that’s when he ran out,” Moreno told KDVR.

Moreno called her store manager and then 911. A customer had already alerted authorities.

After working for the company for 18 years, Moreno says she was fired a few days after the incident for allegedly violating Circle K’s “Don’t Chase or Confront Policy.”

“I don’t feel that I violated the policy,” Moreno told KDVR, later adding: “When they’re coming around, it’s natural that you’re going to have to, you know, either defend yourself or you’re going to react.”

Attorney Iris Halpern is representing Moreno in the wrongful termination lawsuit. She thinks retail companies don’t have a grip on the situations their employees face each day.

“Companies have not sufficiently thought through the nuance in these situations, and any normal person is going to respond by pushing an attacker away from them,” Halpern told KDVR.

Circle K said its shoplifter policy “is for your protection and for the safety of everyone.”

Wimmer was arrested and ended up pleading guilty to the robbery.

KDVR contributed to this report.