Maybe that employee was doing something that he should not legally be permitted to do?
What I've heard from the boot guys themselves goes like this: If you've paid for parking but have gone over, you get a ticket. If you haven't paid at all, they put a boot on your car ASAP. This happens at least three times a day in this parking lot and I can spot it even before it happens from my apartment window. Young idiot parks newish car, walks away, doesn't walk back, boot gets applied, idiot walks back to car with Noodle Box take-out and finds boot. It happens in the time it takes to pick up a to-go order of food. The VI parking patrol car is in the lot every half an hour on some nights checking for infractions.