TRADERS have long operated under the twin scourges of trying to prevent or catch shoplifters and not getting sued for defamation by people who have stolen from them or appeared to have stolen from them.
Shane Gleeson, whose family are now fifth generation shop owners in the city, said that it’s “very common that people will set up a scenario where they let you see them putting something in their bag or pocket but they put it back before going to the till.
“If they are asked is there anything else the assistant needs to take for, they start shouting that they are being accused of theft and they make sure there are people with them who will testify to that when they make a claim.”
The catch twenty two is that the traders’ insurance companies often decide to offer a settlement rather than incur the expense of going to court and court costs.
The new defamation legislation, adopted this past week, provides for specific statutory defence introduced for cases of “transient retail defamation”. This protects retailers questioning customers about payment, possession of goods, or forged tender, provided the query was not made excessively.
It also provides that there must be proof of “damage”, but does not set a threshold for what “damage” means.
Shane, a member of the Limerick City Business Association, said the legislation is helpful but feels it needs to go further.
“We should be able to ask a question about whether a staff member needs to take payment for any other item without being accused of defamation,” he said.
“In my 40 years’ experience in the business, no one has been accused of theft – they have just quietly been asked if there’s anything else needs paying for. Our staff should be able to do that without someone shouting that they have been defamed.
“And we need to be able to deal with the problem of shoplifting, which is costing us enormous amounts of money and to be able to ensure our hard working staff feel safe at work and aren’t subjected to intimidation and aggression.”
– Court Reporting Scheme