Mary Ann Moreno former Colorado Circle K store clerk files lawsuit against her ex employer arguing she was wrongly terminated confronting shoplifter when she was only responding in self defense after fearing being attacked.
A longtime Colorado convenience store worker is suing for alleged wrongful termination after she was fired for confronting an armed shoplifter. The former Circle K clerk argues she was simply defending herself after fearing she would be attacked.
Mary Ann Moreno, 75, was on shift on 4 October, 2020, when a man walked into the store armed with two large hunting knives at around 7 pm and proceeded to make his way behind the counter.
Fearing the man, Tyler Wimmer, would attack her, Moreno who had worked for her employer for 18 years briefly touched the man as he grabbed a packet of cigarettes.
‘Don’t come back here.’
Circle K, citing its ‘Don’t Confront and Chase’ policy, which instructs employees to refrain from confronting customers suspected of theft for safety purposes – fired the veteran employee two days after the incident.
Moreno has since decided to sue her former employer, claiming she had only briefly touched the man, not to stop him, but had only acted in self defense.
According to the lawsuit, the shoplifter had ‘demanded’ a free pack of cigarettes, which she declined to give to him, fearing that she’d be fired (but would she if video showed the man walking into the store armed?).
Video shows Wimmer then approaching the tobacco counter and grabbing a pack, with Moreno saying she ‘instinctively’ put her hands up to ‘protect herself and prevent the man from coming closer toward her and the merchandise’, according to the lawsuit.
Moreno initially grabs the man’s arm but then relents, security footage shows, as she says: ‘Don’t come back here.’
‘distinguishing between self-defense and confronting’
Reflecting on the incident, Moreno told KDVR: ‘I, like, freaked out, you know? And I just went like that.
‘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 immediately called the police and her manager after Wimmer fled.
Wilmer who has a lengthy criminal record was soon after arrested.
Moreno’s attorney Iris Halpern, who filed the wrongful termination lawsuit on her client’s behalf said Circle K aren’t ‘distinguishing between self-defense and chasing.’
‘I think anyone who looks at the video footage from that evening is going to see that this is just someone responding kind of in, you know, instinctually in self-defense,’ said Halpern.
‘Employers should be more appreciative of the danger that their employees face on a day-to-day basis in these retail jobs.’
Loyalty towards employees vs adherence to store rules
Circle K’s handbook states, ‘At no time do you get into a verbal confrontation with any customer and/or person(s) you suspect of theft. This policy is for your protection and for the safety of everyone.’
Moreno has since found a new job but said she’s suing, because ‘I want to prove that it was wrong for them to fire me for what happened.’
Moreno maintains her belief that she did not violate the gas station‘s policy and shared how she reacted to being fired.
‘I was upset because I had put a lot of years with this company. I worked hard for them. If they needed me, if somebody called in, I was there for them…’
‘I did things that they didn’t even ask me to do. I washed windows, I shoveled snow, I cleaned their pumps. Mopped floors, cleaned bathrooms, took merchandise off the shelving, dusted, cleaned cans, checked for expiration. I did it all.’
Moreno is seeking damages for ’emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life’.
