Fast Food Employee Gets Fired After Unwittingly 'Stealing' An Excess Burger They Were About To Throw Away
Corporations wasting food instead of donating it because it doesn't generate income should be illegal, right?
A fast-food shift turned into a firing, a camera clip, and a whole lot of debate over one burger that was already headed for the trash. For one 19-year-old worker at a pancake chain, the problem started with a mistaken kids' meal order and ended with a call from the general manager. OP says she boxed it up, planned to take it home for her 4-year-old daughter, and was then accused of stealing after the manager reviewed the footage.
Now the question is whether this was a simple mistake, a policy issue, or something that never should have escalated this far. Read on.
OP explained that the food was "dead" and opened up about her recent financial struggles
The GM stated that while OP's situation is unfortunate, she violated company policy. Furthermore, what OP did qualifies as stealing and is grounds for automatic termination.
OP tried to reason with the GM, but to no avail. OP admits that she made a mistake, but she doesn't truly believe she did anything wrong by bringing home food that was about to be thrown away.
[deleted]Does OP have any grounds to fight this and file for wrongful termination? Read the original post below before casting judgment:
[deleted]"About an hour later..."
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"She saw on camera where I stole a meal."
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It's no mystery that OP was referring to IHOP in her story
mudsquid
She expressed her frustration over being fired for food that was about to be thrown away after her years of service at that restaurant
[deleted]
If OP still wants her job back, she can offer to pay for the 'stolen' food
StripedCat404
Unfortunately, OP is in such a tight financial situation that she can't even offer to pay the food back
[deleted]
Helpful Redditors shared other places where OP can work and get free food without any issues
binthisun, fishy-the-2nd
If you really think about it, assuming this is OP's first offense, she wasn't fired over a burger
adshove83
She could have been fired for either or both of these reasons
Shelaba
She can also try sharing her story with a local network that can amplify the issues OP has experienced and maybe help others in the process
fisherpt77
Sadly for IHOP, they did not receive a glowing review from past employees who read OP's story
McStooley
One lesson OP can learn: ask if you can take the food first before actually setting it aside
McStooley
The real helpful advice: OP can easily find a job at a better place
Taynt42
She shared that she tried to talk to IHOP's corporate office to resolve the situation
[deleted]
But they stood by the GM's decision to fire OP. Fortunately, she was able to secure a better job immediately!
[deleted]
The bigger issue is, when will corporations stop the practice of throwing away food when they could easily feed the less fortunate?
OP is not alone in her financial struggles. Most of us are one emergency away from bankruptcy, and knowing that is highly stressful. Fortunately, OP quickly found a new job to support herself and her daughter after receiving supportive comments on Reddit.
Wait until you see the office lunch standoff, where someone got caught eating it red-handed.
