Lowe’s employee who was fired for tangling with shoplifter gets her job back

A 68-year-old Lowe’s employee who was fired after she was punched by a shoplifter has her job back, the company said.

Donna Hansbrough, who had worked for the retailer for 13 years, lost her job for violating company policy by confronting three people who were attempting to walk out of the store in Rincon, Georgia, with carts of items they hadn’t paid for.

A police account of the June 25 confrontation said Hansbrough grabbed a cart being pushed by a young woman, who then hit Hansbrough three times in the face. The Rincon police department’s social media post included a photo of Hansbrough with her right eye bruised and swollen.

Lowe’s confirmed the police announcement that the employee had been fired over the incident and then rehired. “After senior management became aware of the incident and spoke to Donna Hansbrough today, we are reinstating her job and we are pleased that she has accepted the offer to return to Lowe’s,” said a company statement released to CNN on Tuesday, July 25.

The shoplifters — the woman and two men — made off with $2,101 worth of stolen merchandise, the police said. One man was arrested soon afterward, and a second man was taken into custody on July 22 in Florida; the woman remains at large, the police said on Tuesday.

Rincon is a small city on the outskirts of Savannah.