Morrisons chief executive Rami Baitieh is set to meet the Midland branch manager whose dismissal for confronting a shoplifter sparked a national storm. Sean Egan, the former manager of the Aldridge store, was sacked earlier this year after he tackled a shoplifter, an action that breached the company's 'do not detain' policy.
Meeting scheduled after public outcry
According to the BBC, Mr Baitieh will meet Mr Egan on Thursday, April 29, after the latter went public with his account of the incident. Mr Egan said he approached and tackled the shoplifter after being spat in the face. The supermarket chain, however, maintains that its policy is in place to ensure staff safety.
In his first public comments on the matter, Mr Baitieh appeared to question Mr Egan's version of events. He stated that the chain had refrained from detailed public comment because it did not believe it would be helpful for Sean. He 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."
Support from politicians and public
Aldridge-Brownshill MP Wendy Morton attended a protest against Mr Egan's dismissal at his former store on Saturday, April 25. He has also received backing from other senior politicians and the head of the Metropolitan Police. A GoFundMe page set up to support Mr Egan, who said he missed multiple mortgage payments after his sacking, has raised over £18,365, nearing its £20,000 target.
Mr Egan, 46, said he wanted the meeting to "get my point across." He told BirminghamLive: "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." After speaking to BirminghamLive, he appeared on Good Morning Britain and said Morrisons felt like 'family'.
