Tesco manager wins £40,000 after sacking for tackling shoplifter

A TESCO manager has been awarded £40,000 after he was fired for gross misconduct because somebody with a grudge reported him for manhandling a violent thief.

Abdoul El Gorrou restrained the shoplifter to protect customers and staff before police arrived.

But rather than receiving praise and being rewarded for his actions, the 60-year-old was “shopped” for misconduct by someone who had a vendetta against him.

He was then fired after more than 20 years’ service, with the retailer arguing he should not have touched the shoplifter.

Mr El Gorrou won a case of unfair dismissal against Tesco as an employment tribunal ruled he had acted reasonably to defend himself and others.

A hearing in East London was told the incident took place in June 2019 in an unidentified store which was regarded as “dangerous” because of violent shoplifters.

After spotting a potential thief, the panel heard that Mr El Gorrou invited him into his office to issue a banning letter.

Employment Judge Stephen Knight said: “When the shoplifter was in the office, the shoplifter turned aggressive.

“He spat at him. He had in his hand a key, which he at the time thought was a screwdriver.” In response, the tribunal heard: “He then made a split-second decision to restrain the shoplifter.”

While the thief made no complaint, three months later an email and a short video extract of CCTV footage of the incident were sent to the Tesco whistleblowing hotline.

The tribunal heard: “The whistleblower held some sort of vendetta against Mr El Gorrou, and was using the footage to encourage Tesco to take disciplinary action.”

The film showed the two men in a brief struggle, with the manager restraining the shoplifter for 10 seconds before officers arrived.

Tesco launched disciplinary action against Mr El Gorrou and fired him for gross misconduct in January 2020 for having physical contact with a customer.

The employment tribunal judge criticised the retailer for not being more suspicious of the whistleblower’s claims and evidence.

He said: “The CCTV is completely decontextualised. It does not show what happened immediately before he took a step towards the shoplifter.”

The judge also dismissed the supermarket’s claim that Mr El Gorrou had breached its policies on how to tackle shoplifters.

Mr El Gorrou was awarded £42,141.56 in compensation.