I get the principle, but it does seem petty.
Common sense should have dictated that nothing was done to this woman.
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.
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.
That sandwich rightfully belonged in the trash can. How dare she deprive it?
Yes, yet we are told to not sweat the petty things.
Agree with you.