Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia

My girlfriend's 44-year-old brother has Downs Syndrome. He lives in a group home and has held a job with Safeway for 11 years or so. (He held other jobs before that.)

He was recently suspended from his job under suspicion of theft. The third-hand explanation of events we have is that the store manager found him appling Axe body spray to himself in the rest room, asked him to show a receipt, and he could not produce one. (I, for one, do not carry around receipts for the personal care products I use. I do not know if there is additional evidence that this was a case of theft. I suspect that the manager is uncomfortable with the brother, or is a newbie who wants to show how strict he is. But we just don't know... and that is the problem.

We are having difficulty getting anybody from Safeway to tell us what is going on. The store manager talked to the counselor at the group home (which is where we got the information we have) but is now referring inquiries to the store's personnel department.

The brother's job has been a source of pride for him (he is one of only two residents who work) for over a decade, and we find it hard to believe that he would have the good track record he has and suddenly change his behavior. We think it is important that he have somebody in his corner, but since he is an adult we are having a hard time getting the info we need to provide help to him.

What can we do? We are of limited means (two kids in college, etc.) and hope there is some organization that can help him.

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