The real reason companies do this is to make an example out of someone to other employees. It's shitty and fucked. They absolutely could have even with the write-up or termination but they have to make everything super serious because management is always on a power trip at the store level.

15 years ago when I was working for Best Buy this happened with a cashier/service rep eating bags of snacks from boxes destined for the shelves. During a meeting where he wasn't present management let us know it was happening, told us the plan to wait til it was well over $100 total so they could have him arrested, and told us that if anyone told him to stop they'd be written up. They didn't want him to stop, they wanted an example to make.

Even at the time I thought it was weird we couldn't stop him. I saw him later eating a snack that week and felt a tug to say something but fear of losing my income, my ability to pay rent and for food, held my tongue. Part of me felt like it was "get him" but I think that was solely a defense mechanism for fear of losing my job.

Fuck every one of those managers, and every one here too.