Wrong at any age
Whole Foods is a market that prides themselves on their environmental and social awareness. However, one of their employees didn’t get the memo about the “social” awareness. Emily Goldman and her autistic brother Michael were the victims of extreme insensitivity while shopping at a Whole Foods Market in Milwaukee, WI. Michael (who has difficulty communicating) swiped some food while the two were shopping. The security guard on duty saw Michael stealing food and confronted the two shoppers. When Emily realized what had transpired she immediately apologized, explained her brother’s condition, and offered to pay for the food Michael had taken. But the security guard responded with a hateful comment. The security guard exclaimed that Emily and Michael were to leave the store immediately and that they were not allowed to return unless Michael was “on a leash”. This mentality doesn’t seem very consistent with Whole Food’s core value of “delighting customers”.