George would have banged her on top of a desk.
Posted on 02/19/2024 12:37:24 PM PST by nickcarraway
Single mum Gabriela Rodriguez was sacked from her £13 an hour job with Total Clean after eating a tuna sandwich left over from an event at Devonshires solicitors in London
A single mum working as a cleaner at a top London law firm was sacked after eating a leftover tuna sandwich from the kitchen.
Gabriela Rodriguez swiped the £1.50 snack left on a platter in the offices for Devonshire solicitors. The impulsive decision led to the 39-year-old being accused of theft by the contracted company she worked for, ultimately terminating her employment which she relied on to support her 10-year-old daughter.
Total Clean, who posted profits of £1.6million last year, told Ms Rodriguez the theft had "irrevocably destroyed" their trust by eating the sandwich. The mum, a migrant worker on £13.08 an hour, tried to appeal the decision but to no avail.
Now union bosses have slammed Total Clean's decision, describing it as "beyond the realms of reasonableness and comprehension". Ms Rodriguez had had an "impeccable record" in her £13.08 per hour job after working there for two years, UVW Union for migrant workers said, and had genuinely believed she was allowed to eat the food which had been left over from a corporate event.
In an appeal letter fighting for her job, the union wrote there were "various full trays of leftover sandwiches that had been laid out for staff to eat" when she took the food. "Gabriela understood she was also allowed to eat this food."
"It is so incredibly far beyond the realms of reasonableness and comprehension to dismiss an employee for eating a leftover tuna and cucumber sandwich. We now understand that the privilege of eating leftover sandwiches perhaps does not extend to the outsourced migrant workforce in the building."
(Excerpt) Read more at mirror.co.uk ...
I get the principle, but it does seem petty.
Common sense should have dictated that nothing was done to this woman.
Kind of risky eating a left over tuna sandwich. What they do count the leftovers or something?
“Total Clean, who posted profits of £1.6million last year, told Ms Rodriguez the theft had “irrevocably destroyed” their trust by eating the sandwich.”
The Mirror can butcher the Queen’s English with the best of them. It’s good to see the Daily Mail has some serious competition.
It wasn’t her sandwich.
Period.
I’ve been in leadership positions of various types over the years and in several industries.
Little things, unchecked, escalate to big things.
You want the sandwich? Ask. Someone probably would have given it to her.
But don’t take it. That’s a mindset I don’t want on my team.
I would have fired her, too.
George would have banged her on top of a desk.
There are lots of people who would never actually take anyone’s property who wouldn’t feel bad nabbing a sandwich leftover from an event that is 99%+ likely to be discarded anyway. But technically speaking, it didn’t belong to her, so it may not be immoral in the strictest way, but she shouldn’t have done it. It’s not like she went into a break room refrigerator and took someone’s lunch.
worked for a city government office long ago that had one guy who everyone knew stole lunches but no one could catch him in the act. until someone loaded a sandwich with habanero peppers and Louisiana hot sauce. never caught the guy but the lunch stealing stopped that day.
If this law firm is so stupid as to not see the incredibly bad PR of doing this, I’d never hire them. Win the battle on principle, lose the war.
I would not eat any sandwich leftover from a stranger, even if I was paid to eat it. But then I have never been un-employed or short of cash for food. So, may be I am not wearing those shoes.
From the article it sounds as if she believed she was allowed to take it. We have food catered in several times a year at my facility, as well as managers and vendors who frequently bring in donuts and bagels in the morning. We have a handful of contract laboratory staff, as well as a regular cleaning contractor. They all know they're welcome to anything that gets set out in the kitchen/break area.
I'm almost wondering if a secretary or some low level employee told her she could take something, but someone else higher up saw it and wasn't happy about it.
Very petty.
They’re gonna have trouble replacing her.
Yes...sarcasm.
That sandwich rightfully belonged in the trash can. How dare she deprive it?
I hate tuna fish sandwich but leftover doesn’t improve it.
If it was on a platter, its open season.
But the next person may be untrustworthy.
Anyone else think of Dickens while reading this?
I imagine “top London law firms” are made up of society wankers and in-bred bell ends.
She didn’t work for a law firm. She worked for a cleaning contractor.
To me, eating food left out that nobody cared enough about to put in the fridge doesn’t seem like a firing offense, but it’s not my company.
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