Meijer Grocery Store Chooses Handcuffs Over Disability Inclusion
- Margaret Breihan, LMSW
- Aug 22
- 3 min read
Imagine being a scared teenager who is arrested at work because your boss accuses you of stealing. That’s what happened to James Denison, a Meijer grocery store employee with disabilities, on March 7, 2024. It has recently inspired tremendous social media backlash after the body cam footage of the incident was recently released to the public. According to the New York Post, Denison is on the autism spectrum and his boss had him arrested after he
developed a habit of eating chicken and fruit cups that the store was about to throw away. According to social media, the store manager/the unnamed boss witnessed Denison take food over a three-month period. In total, the manager reported that taking of food was equivalent to $110 in theft.
Denison tried to explain himself while riding in the back of the police car. Fortunately, the police officers showed understanding and advised the teen not to incriminate himself.
Social media is outraged on Denison’s behalf and a GoFundMe campaign raised over $20,000 for the teen before being taken down without explanation. Many social media comments point out that the manager should have addressed the issue internally without involving police and that the manager should not have run a three-month investigation just to get someone with disabilities arrested.
There are some additional things that should be mentioned when looking at this incident through a disability inclusive lens. Everyone who is starting out in the workforce in their teens needs guidance, whether or not they have disabilities. Reports indicate that Denison’s manager was “gleeful” in reporting the theft to officers. Why wasn’t his energy put towards training his staff?
It’s also worth noting that if managers need help training employees with disabilities, there are programs in every state to promote disability employment and training. Sadly, many of these programs are being cut drastically. For example, Maryland’s government recently proposed cutting such programs by $14 million—and that’s just in one state. Despite these cuts, there are still resources to train people with disabilities and to better react to employee misconduct.
One can assume that Meijer’s management is aware of these state resources because in 2018, the U.S. Business Leadership Network and American Association of People with Disabilities praised the grocery store chain for being an exceptionally good employer of people with disabilities. Notably, the grocery store's initial response to this scandal did not mention disability inclusion or any steps taken to prevent future incidents. More recently, Meijer’s public relation staff has said that the incident has led to policy changes within the company, as reported by the Daily Mail.
According to ARC, a leading disability rights organization, “People with disabilities are more likely to experience victimization, be arrested, be charged with a crime, and serve longer prison sentences once convicted, than those without disabilities.”
By contrast, research suggests companies that properly train and support employees with disabilities see benefits. Forbes reported earlier this year that “Companies that actively employ and support people with disabilities outperform their peers. These companies experienced 1.6 times more revenue, 2 times more economic profit, and 2.6 times more net income compared to those with less inclusive practices. Also, compared to their industry peers, these companies are 25% more productive—measured by revenue per employee.”
Social media, common sense, and business research all suggest that the world and economy are better off when people with disabilities are given the support and training needed to productively contribute to the workforce instead of being gleefully reported to police.
Sources:
The Business Benefits Of Hiring People With Disabilities
Criminal Justice
Disabilities community ‘distressed,’ ‘scared’ by proposed $200 million
cut to state services
Meijer Recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion
Outrage as supermarket sets cops on disabled teen worker for taking
fruit cups to get him through his shifts
Supermarket chain Meijer under fire after manager has autistic deli
worker arrested for allegedly stealing ‘orders of chicken and fruit
cups’: bodycam video
TikTok coverage
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