Retailers Call on Shoppers to Combat Bad Customer Behavior

As customer-employee altercations turn deadly, Tiffany & Co., Movado, and other retailers are asking shoppers to step in.

Lenore Fedow lenore.fedow@nationaljeweler.com

A new campaign is calling on customers to practice bystander intervention when they see customers mistreating retail workers.

New York—As retail workers face a rise in harassment from customers, nearly a dozen retailers have banded together to ask their customers for help in combating dangerous behavior.

The campaign is a collaboration by nonprofits Open to All and Hollaback!, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and its corporate retail partners.

The group of retailers include Tiffany & Co. and Movado Group.

Retail workers have seen a surge of harassment from customers, particularly as they attempt to enforce social distancing measures and mask protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers who are people of color, living with disabilities, or members of the LGBTQIA+ community have particularly been targeted.

“Retailers are seeing an alarming rise in discrimination where floor staff are being targeted for who they are when enforcing safety measures. Given the rise in hate violence—which is at an all-time high—frontline workers are more vulnerable than ever,” said Emily May, co-founder and executive director of Hollaback!, in a press release about the initiative.

These encounters have the potential to turn deadly.

Earlier this month, Laquitta Willis, a 41-year-old cashier at a Georgia supermarket, was fatally shot by a customer following an argument over a face mask.

The campaign is providing two resources, the Customer Action Center and the Inclusive Retail Business Toolkit, to support and protect frontline workers.