MP I hope there is something he can do about this. It really sounds like he was fired to "set an example" or really moreso to "prove that they are following the new rules". It is a sort of political correctness that we see too often.

So the problem is where do you draw the line? If someone comes in to use the bathroom and you say "please sit in there" (on the toilet) are you detaining them? Do you have to specifically say "Please remember you are free to leave whenever you want to!" What if you were to say "Please don't leave before you pull up your pants and wash your hands" is that detaining someone?

I understand their wanting to set the bar really really low for a while to cover themselves while this previous event blows over. But this seems way out of line since the woman came back in. She basically came in and said "please let me talk to the manager" and he said "wait here and the manager will be with you" and the fact that it was about stolen goods should be irrelevant.

What would his alternative be? "Please wait out in the parking lot and I'll get the manager." (again, irrelevant of the stolen goods). That would be horrible customer service in general, I'm sure not in tune with their policy.

Given the fact that you moved for this job and bought a house for this, maybe he can speak to the manager and get reinstated. I would hope so. If not then the world is going to pieces.

Maybe I could go to Lowes and sue them, making the case that they are "detaining me" by having me wait in the checkout line. Maybe we should all do this in protest.

I'm sure the detaining thing is a real and serious issue for them and they want to make sure there is no abuse in addition to preventing even frivolous law suits, but like I said there has to be some semblance of individual thought and consideration applied to each case.