International Law

Wal-mart May Be In Need of a China Business Consultant

By Stan

A woman in eastern China was allegedly beaten to death by five employees of a Wal-Mart store who accused her of shoplifting, a police report and state media said Tuesday. (AFP)

I’m a lawyer, not a business expert, but it seems to me that beating suspected shoplifters to death is a bit on the harsh side of things for store policy.

Don’t get me wrong, zero tolerance is a good thing, and I’m sure this will deter would-be thieves from stealing apples, toilet paper, socks and other various expensive items from Wal-mart in the future.

However, some people may take this the wrong way and see the woman, who refused to cooperate with employees even after the appropriate punishment of massive internal injuries was carried out, as a victim.

This must be the way they do things in Arkansas, although one suspects that back in the U.S., the staff members would have been armed.

OK, seriously. The actions of the employees goes so far beyond what I assume is store policy that it’s hard to see too much mud sticking to Wal-mart on this story. That being said, it’s not a good thing for the franchise.

You got gotta wonder what the backstory was here. What on earth could possibly have happened to explain this? Did this woman know these people, or owe them money, or have an affair with a spouse or something? Or maybe they were all high on some sort of pychoactive substance?

This one is a mystery.

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Full post as published by China Hearsay on September 08, 2009 (boomark / email).