Liability is one of the most complicated aspects of working for a corporation.

But what happens when you overstep an inch? One guy recently told Reddit an unfortunate story from his workplace with disastrous results.

Here’s what went down.

Asset Protection Fired for Doing His Job

Our store employs plain clothes asset protection associates, as we call them.

Their job is to follow thieves and witness every step of the theft, from picking up the item, to concealing it, to attempting to leave without paying.

Sounds wildly dangerous and underpaid.

If they miss even one step, they will be unable to accuse that person of theft, so they have to be on it.

An AP associate named “Jake” was doing his job one day, and following a teenaged boy who had just concealed an item from the sporting goods department in his jacket.

Well the thief had an inkling that he was being followed, so he started to walk faster.

This can’t be good.

Jake did too.

The thief started heading toward the exit.

Jake followed.

Hope this ends well for Jake.

The thief broke off into a dead sprint out the front door.

Jake… well, this is where things get complicated.

This is a very large company, and they are wary of lawsuits.

They have a “no chase” policy for thieves.

That seems counterproductive.

Now, Jake did not really “chase” the thief, but he did run a bit, he stopped at the door, made a mental note of the direction the thief was heading, and called the cops.

The cops managed to catch the guy, amazingly.

Job well done, right?

Corporate rarely seems to acknowledge a job well done.

Well, it would have been, but the kid’s parents called corporate.

Apparently, in his effort to escape with his ill-gotten goods, the thief jumped a fence, ran across four lanes of traffic, and jumped another fence before the cops picked him up.

His chest and stomach was all scraped up from all that fence jumping, and his parents were threatening to sue.

Seems like those parents are seeing the tree but not the forest.

Management checks the camera, sees Jake “chasing” the thief for a total of twenty feet.

Decides at that moment that he has to be fired.

Jake had worked at the company for about four years prior to this.

Companies rarely have respect for anyone who gives them time.

Today, Jake works as a prison guard in a far Northern California prison.

Our existing AP associates are effectively useless, for fear of losing their jobs for doing much of anything to actually curb shrink.

Tale as old as time. Let’s see if Reddit agreed.

Most commenters were appalled.

Some offered suggestion.

Others pointed out the irony.

One person pointed at the parents.

And another just pointed out the annoying nature of liability.

It really can be a punishment to be too good at your job.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.