Fired Over a Tuna Fish Sandwich

[Shy]

[size=1][URL="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/fired-over-a-tuna-sandwich-and-fighting-back/"]From the New York Times:[/URL]
[quote]Whole Foods fired Ralph Reese for taking a tuna fish sandwich. But was it misconduct? It is a question that matters. Anyone fired for misconduct is denied unemployment benefits.

Whole Foods argued that Mr. Reese, 57, of Queens, tried to steal a sandwich by taking it from the trash at the end of his shift as a deli clerk at the Union Square Whole Foods on Nov. 9. The company?s policy is that food cannot be taken without being paid for, though employees receive a 20 percent discount.[/quote]So the sandwich was going to be dumped into the trash at the end of the night anyway. Mr. Reese, knowing it was going to be tossed out, decided to eat it instead.

Was Whole Foods right to fire him? Have you ever gotten in trouble at work/school for a similarly nonsensical rule?

-Shy[/size]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

This is one of the biggest debates we had when I worked at Mcdonald's. At the end of the shift one manager would be cool with us eating the leftovers, while at the end of another that particular manager would not allow us. Policy was it gets counted and goes in the trash, but who was right?

When I was wrong it was easy to write the second manager in my scenario off as stuck up, and just mean. But as I've grown up and gotten into management myself (not at mcdonald's) I've learned to see things differently. Allowing employee's to take ANY food is directly taking sales away, sales boost profit and stocks etc.

So I can see where the guy should be disciplined (as long as no managers send false signals). But firing somebody based on this would be wrong, and is most likely only part of the story. I'm sure it goes deaper, and that the sandwich was only the proverbial straw.

Same thing with the misconduct. I'm sure if he was a model employee, all he would've received would've been a write up. Due to him, most likely, being an unsavory employee he was let go in the worst way.

Of course I have no fact to back this up, but I can be fairly sure.

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]This is utterly moronic. While I can understand the need to discipline someone based on stealing food during shift and from within the store itself that could've been still sold, the fire someone for taking a sandwich from the trash (if he hadn't put it there himself to take later) that was going to be destroyed anyway and therefore could no longer be considered saleable stock (although you never know with some companies), yeah utterly moronic is about the only term that works for this.[/SIZE]

[Axel]

I guess my reply varies on whether or not the company has a system in place where they count wasted stock in the bins before disposal. If that was the case, I can slightly understand it. It may have only been one sandwich, but it could still cause stock issues.

If not, then yes. The whole thing is silly. I believe he should have received a warning. (Verbal or written.) I know that most companies have a no-nonsense '[I]you steal, your fired[/I]' rule and generally apply it to make examples of the offender to ward off any potential thieves in the work force, but I do honestly believe that they'll lose more revenue and cause more problems for themselves in the long run by sacking a worker than by losing one sandwich. Unless, of course, they have 'workers to burn', so to speak. ;) And, of course, the man is potentially screwed when it comes to benefits.


I, myself, have never been chastised for such an action. I've always tried to keep away from incriminating acts, because I'm not the sort to take risks when it comes to employment. It was hard enough getting the job I had to begin with.

[Nerdsy]

[color=deeppink]Seems fine to me. If a company allowed people to eat from their waste for free, how many people would pay for the product?

Besides, I wouldn't allow anyone to go through my trash anyway, regardless of whether or not I own a business.[/color]

[sakurasuka]

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="1"]

I agree with Nerdsy. Additionally, this situation could be easily taken advantage of if it were actually allowed.

Some employee is hungry and it is almost the end of his shift. He 'drops' a wrapped up sandwich on the floor. The sandwich is unarguably edible, but not servable to customers. "Hey boss, this fell on the floor, I'm going to eat it".

If employees are allowed to eat waste for free, what would stop them from 'ruining' the food themselves?

[/SIZE][/FONT]

[3minds]

I find this to be very funny, just based off the fact that he took a sandwich from the trash and was fired I could see him getting a warning or getting wrote up but fired over something so trivial just makes me laugh. Mainly because I don?t see this as a serious situation.

[Rachmaninoff]

I looked up the article and there are a couple of questions it doesn't answer. For example, it doesn't say whether or not this employee had a history or not. At first glance firing him seems extreme, but what if this was not the first time he'd done this? I'd like to know more before I say it's absurd that he was fired.

Also, I agree with Nerdsy. If people can just take it from the trash, you know they'll not bother to pay for the food. And you know that some of them will just [I]accidentally[/I] drop it on the floor themselves.

[Binxy]

[SIZE="1"]I work in the fast food industry now, Subway to be exact, and it's very important to enforce taking food without paying for it. Besides the fact that employees where I am do receive one free meal every shift, if anyone is allowed to take anything extra it could lead to many problems. I don't have any type of management position but I'm often put in charge of the shifts I work and I enforce it as much as it needs to be.

If someone thinks that they can just take food, they'll begin to overeat and just continuously 'drop' or 'waste' an item and sneak extra things. Soon after that, they'll begin to give close friends and relatives free food or reduced prices. I've seen it happen so many times which is why I enforce it so much. It loses the company money and just lets people cheat society. The owner of my building has actually prosecuted someone for theft over giving away a free sandwich.

Simply, it ruins inventory and it's not your merchandise to take. It's the same as stealing from another person. A person who signs your checks.[/SIZE]

[Sabrina]

[FONT="Tahoma"]I've never gotten in trouble for something at work before. And not just because when I do work, it's for my families business. >_> However, I do agree that letting someone go for stealing is acceptable. My understanding is that most places do not allow for employees to take food/merchandise, even if it's just going to be thrown away.

From a business point of view, it's a habit that can and often does spiral out of control. It's a shame that they have to let food go to waste, but unfortunately, there are people who would exploit something like that. So it's best to not allow it period. [/FONT]

[chibi-master]

[quote name='Binxy'][SIZE="1"]Simply, it ruins inventory and it's not your merchandise to take. It's the same as stealing from another person. A person who signs your checks.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

That was probably the most perfect way to describe my opinion on this!:animesmil

Really, there's not much else I can say that someone else hasn't... But seriously, why couldn't the guy just bring a snack in a paper sack instead of eating the sandwich and getting his butt fired?! Is it so hard to shove a granola bar in your pants pocket?!

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]And here I would have thought the employee would have known better. Every job I've had that dealt with any form of merchandise, had a very strict policy about not taking stuff, even if it was put in the trash. It was considered grounds for immediate termination.

The others have covered it, but if people can just wait for something to be [I]tossed[/I] then why bother to pay? Also, like Darren, I'd like to know if this was a first offense or if they've been reprimanded for such behavior before. [/FONT][/COLOR]