Mercadona, a supermarket in Spain, illegally fired a worker who ate a deep-fried snack that was headed to the trashcan after the store close for the day. A court in Barcelona upheld an earlier ruling criticizing the company and it must reinstate the worker and give him $41,800 in lost earnings.
The company's policy is that workers are prohibited from consuming any product found in the store without having paid for it previously.
But the superior court found that it was common practice for workers to snack on "ready to eat" food products that were going to be thrown away after closing hours. In its ruling, it also insisted in "the important detail that the worker didn't eat an entire package of croquettes, but instead one single croquette" that was "not going to be put back on sale the following day."
The context seems to be that the rule is a device to get rid of workers for less tasteful reasons and is only applied when useful in that regard. But now a case has found its way through an appeals court and made law. Adds the Associated Press: "The court documents didn't indicate the flavor of the croquette."
Previously:
• Racist DJ fired
• Wyoming reporter is fired from paper after getting caught using AI
• Woman who flipped off Trump got fired from government contracting firm
• Chinese scientist who edited babies' genes has been fired and may face criminal charges
