Lowe's employee resigns after viral TikTok shows him screaming for help while retrieving a large box, family member says
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- A Lowe's employee resigned after a viral TikTok showed him struggling to retrieve a large box.
- That TikTok, which has 3.7 million views, shows the employee screaming for help.
- Lowe's said it took "prompt action" following the TikTok video, but did not elaborate.
A Louisiana Lowe's employee has resigned from his job after a viral TikTok video showed him screaming for help as he struggled to retrieve a large box, a family member told Insider.
The employee resigned from Lowe's on February 17, according to the family member, who asked to keep both of their names anonymous, citing safety reasons. (Their identities are known to Insider). The video was recorded on February 11 by a customer, the family member said.
After the TikTok video went viral — it now has more than 3.7 million views — the employee "spoke with his managers and all were concerned about his safety should he go back to work," the family member said.
"People are crazy and he was scared people would go to the store looking to harass him," the family member added.
Lowe's did not respond to a request for comment on the worker's employment.
When Insider reported the viral TikTok earlier this month, a Lowe's spokesman said the company took "prompt action to address it."
"The safety of our associates and customers is embedded in our culture at Lowe's, and the actions in this video are contrary to the training that Lowe's provides," Lowe's spokesman Larry Costello said at the time. Costello didn't answer follow-up questions seeking more details on the "prompt action" and employee training.
In the video, which takes place near a furniture display in an unidentified Lowe's, the employee is shown standing on a store lift and struggling to retrieve a large box from a high shelf. The box appears to press against their head, neck, and chest.
One voice in the video encourages the employee to "keep coming down" and says "you can't be scared." Another voice says, "that's not a good idea."
Eventually, as the lift descends toward the floor, the object tilts and appears to pushes the employee against a railing. "Help, help!" the employee screams. "Please, somebody, please."
The employee's family member told Insider that the object was a set of Allen and Roth patio chairs that weighed about 120 pounds.
When the employee was retrieving the furniture, "it shifted and cut the machine off, which is what caused him to panic," the family member said.
Do you work for Lowe's and have you had safety concerns? Contact the reporter Ben Tobin on email at btobin@insider.com or by encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 703-498-9171.