Supermarket chain kicks out employees after 16 years: The reason leaves us speechless
Albacete (Spain) - He grabbed it once and was out of a job: the employee of a supermarket was dismissed for eating something that would have been thrown away anyway. Now a court has put an end to the ensuing legal dispute.

We are all familiar with the fresh food counters in supermarkets, where food is prepared especially for the day. What is not sold is thrown away after closing time.
This was also the case in a branch of the Mercadona chain in the Spanish province of Albacete. The case in question involved a (!) croquette that an employee ate at the end of the day - and was fired after 16 years with the company.
However, according to the Spanish daily newspaper El País, the competent Supreme Court ruled at the end of last week that the dismissal was completely disproportionate, thus confirming the decision of a court of first instance.
The employee should therefore either be reinstated or, alternatively, the company could pay him compensation of 40,000 euros. According to El País, the decision was made in favor of compensation.
Croquette theft apparently a "very serious offense" according to the company

The incident had already occurred in July last year. According to the newspaper, the prepared ready meals were not completely sold on that Saturday, which is why the employee in question probably took a croquette from a package.
Because it is forbidden for employees there to eat goods without having paid for them beforehand, he went to report on the following Monday and confessed.
His honesty was not rewarded, instead he was dismissed on the same day for disciplinary reasons - this incident was classified as a "very serious offense", it was said. According to the company, he had eaten a whole packet of croquettes, but witnesses were unable to confirm this.
As store manager, the man was fobbed off with a severance payment of less than 1000 euros - and successfully defended himself against the actions of his ex-employer.
The court rejected an appeal by the Mercadona chain and was also unable to find a "very serious offense". After all, it was only a matter of a croquette that was destined for the trash, which is why a fine would probably have been more appropriate than dismissal.