- Target employees fired for purchasing special-edition Stanley mugs, violating company policy.
- Workers claim unawareness or unintentional violation of policy, offer returns which are declined.
- Multiple workers terminated and additional accounts reported, raising concerns over Target’s actions.
Additional Coverage:
- Seven Target workers fired after buying Stanley cups say they were caught off guard by the crackdown (businessinsider.com)
Target employees have been fired after purchasing special-edition Stanley mugs, according to Business Insider. Seven workers said they were told by their managers that they violated a company policy for employee purchases. Some employees claimed they were unaware of the policy or tried to follow the rules. One worker, Catherine Carter, was terminated after purchasing a pink stainless steel insulated cup, which she bought because her mother had passed away from breast cancer. Target has not responded to requests for comment on the matter.
The company policy in question prohibits employees from using their position to gain an unfair advantage over customers when purchasing merchandise. This particularly applies to high-demand or limited-stock items and deals. The seven workers who spoke to Business Insider were unable to recall any instances where an employee in their store was terminated for violating the employee purchase guidelines. Three of the workers offered to return the cups when they were informed of the problem, but their offers were declined. The employees said their store leaders indicated that investigations were directed by Target’s corporate offices.
Target, like many retailers, is an at-will employer, meaning they can terminate a worker’s employment at any time for any reason. Some workers claim to be unaware of the policy or that they unknowingly violated it when purchasing the cups. In some cases, employees bought cups that were improperly set aside or not correctly restocked after online orders were cancelled. One employee in Maryland said they were terminated after allowing a cup to be sold before the official release date, even though it was common practice in their store to stock items ahead of schedule when other seasonal merchandise had sold out.
Multiple workers at different stores reported being fired over the Stanley cups, and some said they knew of other workers in their district who had lost their jobs. However, Business Insider could not independently verify all of the additional accounts. None of the seven employees interviewed by Business Insider expected purchasing the cups to result in them losing their jobs.
Catherine Carter expressed her disappointment with Target’s actions, stating, “I just don’t think they’re doing right. I mean, for a cup. Come on, a cup.”