Service technician uses corporate uniform to carry out assault and robbery

This corporate security case takes place in Arizona and involves the former employee of a rent-to-own retailer who used one of the company’s uniforms to misrepresent their identity and gain access to a home, where they committed an assault and robbery against the plaintiff.

The plaintiff in this case was a customer of the rent-to-own retailer and was renting a number of kitchen appliances from them at the time, including a stove, a refrigerator and a microwave. As a function of the company’s service and as part of the rental agreement, the rent-to-own retailer would send uniformed service personnel into the home to service and repair the rented appliances when needed. In this case, they hired an employee to a position as a service person, including a uniform and later found out about several troubling problems regarding his character. He was being garnished for back child support, he was being treated for depression, and he was using illegal drugs while at work. He was even suspected of having robbed another branch of the same rent-to-own retail company. Though he was fired, a week later he donned the company’s uniform and entered the plaintiff’s home, where he proceeded to beat her into coma and rob her.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. What is the rental store’s responsibility when it comes to reclaiming corporate uniforms?

Expert Witness Response E-007028

The rental company definitely has a responsibility to do everything within their power to re-acquire the uniform and any type of identification issued to any former company employee. This is especially important for those companies that employ personnel who are responsible for conducting ‘house calls’ on behalf of the business. Failing to do everything possible to regain those articles of identification can create serious problems for the company over the long run.

In addition to that, any company that sends its employees into the homes of its customers should be more responsible and take the concept of background checks seriously. They should not only run simple background checks; they should try to obtain any information available that could be used to assess the stability of those employees. This company obviously didn't do that and put itself and its customers at great risk.

This expert has been managing loss prevention and internal security at a rent-to-own company for more than 25 years. This expert regularly participates in investigations required by risk management, legal and corporate departments and is responsible for continual review of corporate policies, procedures, and systems to maintain adequate security controls. A developer and teacher of loss prevention seminars, this expert recruits, trains, and supervises loss prevention personnel and is an expert in all areas relating to internal security, from managing corporate security contracts (alarms, safes, CCTV, guard services, etc.) to conducting interviews and interrogations.