Hampton Bath and Body Works employee FIRED after being pepper-sprayed while trying to stop thieves

An employee at Bath and Body Works at the Hampton's Peninsula Town Center in Hampton, Virginia, was fired after she followed two shoplifters out of the store, got pepper sprayed, and called police to report the crime.

In an interview with WAVY, the woman, who asked not to be identified, said the thieves filled bags they had with store merchandise and told the employees "Y’all have a good day. Peace out" as they left without paying.

When she exited the store she said the two women walked towards a car that had its license plate covered with plastic bags right out in front of a Hampton Police Field office.

"I said you are on camera, and she said I don’t give a sh*t, and you can guess what happened next," the woman said happened right before one of the shoplifters pepper-sprayed her.

"I went into a defensive position,” She added. “I couldn’t see, and I couldn’t tell where I was."

After calling the police to report the assault, Bath and Body Works informed her that she was going to be fired. "when I asked why, I was told because you are not allowed to go outside, following shoplifting suspects, and calling the police,” she said.

"I did not know that, and I did not understand," the woman noted.

Later in the interview, she noted that she thinks her managers are great and "this is a corporate decision."

According to the Bath and Body Works Associate Handbook, employees are not allowed to "accuse a customer of shoplifting", "leave the store to follow a shoplifter or write down a license plate or vehicle description", "take photos or record video of customers, shoplifters, vehicles, or license plates", "contact mall security, the police, another retailer or BWW store about a suspicious individual (s) in your store", or "notify the police, provide information or sign a complaint without notifying asset protection first."