Whole Foods Fires Man for Catching Shoplifter

"John Schultz, the Whole Foods Market employee who was fired after he tried to stop a shoplifter, said he has received several job offers and lots of support from the public after publicity over the incident.

"It makes me feel great," said Schultz, who is weighing a job offer from an organic market set to open in Ann Arbor in February.

Meanwhile, officials of Whole Foods, which has been harshly criticized in blog postings about the incident, have reiterated that their policy is designed with employee safety in mind. And a representative of the Michigan Retailers Association says the policy is not unusual.

On Christmas Eve, Schultz, a 35-year-old former Marine from Ypsilanti Township, was fired from his job of five years at Whole Foods, 3135 Washtenaw Ave., after he tried to help stop a shoplifter the day before. Store management said he went too far and violated a policy against touching customers when he caught up to the man and grabbed his jacket."

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