Police say a woman sprayed Lysol in a Walmart cashier's eyes, and it's a stark example of the challenges retail workers face as they manage frantic customers and risk their health
- Police are searching for a woman who sprayed Lysol disinfectant into a Walmart cashier's eyes, after the cashier informed her of purchase limits on the cleaning products.
- In another recent incident, a driver hit a Walmart security guard after he was told only one person per car could enter the store, CBC News reports.
- The attacks highlight how retail workers are under growing pressure as they try to manage frantic customers and risk their health when they report to work.
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A woman attacked a Walmart cashier with Lysol disinfectant spray after the cashier told her there was a limit on the number of Lysol products she could buy, according to police.
The incident, which required a response from Emergency Medical Services, happened on March 27 at a Walmart store in Leicester, Massachusetts, the Leicester Police Department said. Police released a photo of the suspect on Facebook and said they were attempting to identify her.
The reported attack highlights one of the many challenges that retail workers are facing as they report to work in the midst of a global pandemic: frantic customers.
Retail workers are exposing themselves to potentially hundreds of people each day at a time of heightened anxiety over illness, germs, and the scarcity of certain products, such as toilet paper and disinfectants.
They risk their health with this exposure. The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that two Walmart workers in the same Chicago store have died after contracting the coronavirus. Information on how they might have contracted the virus has not been released.
Amid the coronavirus, retail workers have the added responsibilities of communicating new shopping rules to customers and trying to manage people who disobey the rules.
In addition to placing purchase caps on high-demand items, Walmart has also introduced new social distancing rules, implemented one-way aisles, and started limiting the number of customers who can be in a store at once.
In a high-stress environment, more people may lash out against these rules, like the woman accused of spraying Lysol on the Walmart cashier.
In another recent incident, a driver hit a security guard with his car on Saturday night at a Walmart store in Quebec, CBC News reports.
The driver reportedly hit the guard, who is now in critical condition, out of frustration after he was told only one person per car could enter the store, according to CBC News.
As more people face job losses and COVID-19 cases rise, the pressure retail employees are under may be felt even more acutely.
"Never mind that it's stressful working in a busy retail environment to begin with," a Seattle-area Target employee recently told Business Insider. "This panic just makes it worse."
