Big Lots manager says she was fired for following shoplifter out of store to get store’s cart back

An ex-Big Lots manager claims she was fired after she followed a shoplifter out of the store to retrieve a cart from the establishment.

Lily Oxford, 52, says she and another manager of the Big Lots location in Oildale, California followed a thief who walked out with 15 cans of Tide laundry detergent in his cart.

The incident took place on April 5 and Oxford – who ran the furniture department – said she and her colleague did not try to stop the thief.

“We just got 40 brand new carts before Christmas,” she said. ‘It’s March, we only have five carts left. So, we’re instructed, no carts are allowed to leave that store. It doesn’t matter… customers shouldn’t take it,” she said of her reasoning.

A week after following the customer, she told KGET that she and her colleague were both unemployed in connection with the incident.

DailyMail.com reached out to Big Lots for a statement about the incident, but received no response from the major retailer.

According to Oxford, the pair did not try to stop, confront or even detain the man, they simply wanted to get their cart back after the locking mechanism had already been activated.

“No one is allowed to take them out, so we follow them out, we get the carts. So that was my goal to go out. I didn’t think it would get anything back from them,” the woman told KGET.

The woman said the thief had tried to drag the cart after the locks had been kicked in and that she inadvertently caught up with the man as he loaded the stolen items into his vehicle.

Oxford and the other manager then took out their phones and began recording the scene from a few feet away, the woman said.

The thief then climbed out of the car and drove off.

Another person in the vehicle apologized for the whole scene.

“The other man got out of his car and said, ‘Here, ma’am, take it all, take it all,’ Oxford said. “I think, ‘Oh great, I’m getting all my stuff back.’

At the time, Oxford said others had seen the situation unfold and had come by to show their support for the two managers.

“I had people, at least three different people here, applauding me, because it happens so often,” Oxford said.

“So many customers see it happen every day. This happens at least four to five times a day, whether they go out through the front door or through the back door. … At least. The bare minimum,” she continued.

Less than a week later, however, both managers were fired.

“We have a very big problem with homeless people and thieves!” Oxford wrote in a message.

“They come into our store at least four times a day and steal shamelessly, they fill carts and walk right out the front door because they know there’s nothing we can do about it,” she continued.

In another Facebook post, Oxford said she was just “doing the right thing.”

“Pretty sad when thieves have more rights than a hard-working American…. Dismissed for doing the right thing, what a shame,” Oxford wrote on April 24.

“I’m so glad the news got your story! It’s so unfair the way you’ve been treated,” one person responded to her post.

Good for standing up to the wrong. Meanwhile boycott Big Lots’, wrote another.

Risk management consultant Mike Jelletich spoke to KGET and said he sees both sides of the coin in this incident.

“Some of these employees know what’s right and what’s wrong, and they feel, ‘Hey, this is wrong.’ And they think it’s almost their duty to step up and not let this kind of nonsense happen,” Jelletich said.

“But from the employers’ point of view, they flat out don’t want this employee to get hurt, god forbid killed. … The financial aspect of a person, a security guard, a cashier, getting hurt can really, really play a role in the high dollar,” he continued.

A single mom of two teens, Oxford has since started one GoFundMe account to help pay her bills until she can get a new job.

The fundraiser raised $2,700 of its $3,000 goal on May 2.

“Sorry to hear about your job loss. I wish you and your family the best of luck,” one donor wrote in response to the fund.

DailyMail.com reached out to Big Lots for a statement about the incident, but received no response from the major retailer.