Target Sued – The Ethical Price of Humiliating an Employee

What is the price for humiliating an employee? In the case of Graham Gentles, the price was extremely high.

Graham Gentles suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome and he was also an Army veteran. He took a job at a Target Store near his home in Pasadena, California. He apparently had gotten into a fight outside of the workplace with another Target employee, and soon after several co-workers banded together and accused him of stealing from the store. What happened next was bizarre and tragic.

According to an article by Chris Spargo for Dailymail.com (January 24, 2015):

“A Target employee committed suicide just days after he was accused of stealing at the store. Graham Gentles, a 22-year-old from Pasadena, California who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome, was ‘paraded, around the store in handcuffs as a punishment for stealing, even though police and store management never found anything and he was never charged. Three days after the incident, on July 18 of last year [2014], he jumped to his death from the roof of the Courtyard Marriott in Monrovia.”

The young man reputedly said the following to his mother prior to committing suicide: “Mom, I’ve never stolen. They did the walk of shame, I had to do the walk of shame. But they only do that when people steal and I’ve never stolen a thing. Mom this is the worst day of my life.”

The mother is suing the store. His attorney stated:

“This was part of his extended family. He had indicated that he felt safe there. This is where his friends were, so he felt as though he lost all of that in one moment.”

Where are the lines drawn?

“Working retail” can be prestigious and lucrative, or temporary and minimum wage. It can be much than that, of course. Co-workers become family and friends. It is also a profession for some who have limited options.

It is well understood that stealing is forbidden, and I am not naïve to the point that “shrinkage,” the loss of merchandise, is a problem. However (and I know this from my own work history), some store management and employees take it upon themselves to cross lines that should never be crossed.

In the case of Graham Gentles, the line was crossed. Store management never found any merchandise in his possession. All they had to go on were the conspiratorial words of the co-workers.

Rather than questioning the employee and those that had accused him, they assumed he was a thief. The store management/security and the police proceeded to humiliate him by marching him around the store in handcuffs. They deserve their lawsuit.

There were no lines and no boundaries. There was only the need to exact punishment on an employee who may have had difficulties relating to others. Many with Asperger’s are socially awkward. They want to relate, but may not always know quite how to do so. Graham Gentles may have been viewed by several co-workers as being a target; a fool or worse. It is easy to gang-up on such a person; indeed, some people derive joy from ganging up rather than accepting and acceptance.

Ethical solutions

A strong sense of ethics and fair play needed to be infused throughout the store, and obviously, at levels far above. It would be “interesting” to determine if the policies and procedures manuals in place for Target retail locations, endorsed parading employees suspected of stealing around the store in handcuffs. It is also of interest to me as to the relationship of store security to the police department. Making an accusation and having proof are two different things.

Anyone in that store potentially could have accused any other employee of stealing – without proof or rationalization. Unless, of course, it only applied to “certain” employees that others simply did not like. To that end, it would be equally as important to determine if guidelines were in place that talked of respect within the workplace for all employees and of direct lines of communication from employees to HR.

A strong platform of ethical guidelines could have prevented any part of this tragedy from happening in the first place. As someone who speaks and consults on these issues, I have never seen situations like this heartbreak happen in a vacuum. It occurs because ethical controls are in place; it starts corporately, regionally, and filters right down to store level.

The walk of shame, shamed the young man to end his life. This did not need to happen.