An employee eats a croquette that was left over after work. His company subsequently dismisses him. The employee sues his company and wins the case. It involves 40,000 euros.
An employee of Mercadona, the largest supermarket chain in Spain with total sales of almost 18 billion euros, ate a leftover croquette after work. The company dismissed him for this, as they saw it as a violation of internal regulations.
However, the former employee challenged the dismissal. Now the Supreme Court of Castilla-La Mancha has ruled on the case.
An employee retrieves a croquette from the trash and is dismissed for it
What was the situation? The Spanish website Xataka.com reports that employees of a Mercadona branch had to clean up the trash. One of the employees passed by the ready-to-eat section. He took a croquette from a blister pack and ate it.
Later, the store manager confronted the employee. The employee voluntarily admitted that he had taken a single croquette and eaten it without paying for it. Following that, the supervisor reminded the individual of the ban on employees consuming products without payment. The items were intended for the trash and would never have returned to sale.
Still on the same day, Mercadona communicated the disciplinary dismissal, describing the offense as “very serious” and paid the person a severance of 944.38 euros.
What did the company argue? The supermarket chain stated that the employee was aware of the regulations, including the ban on consuming any kind of products. Furthermore, the company accused the individual of eating not just a single croquette, but an entire pack.
According to the supermarket chain, this represents “fraudulent behavior, disloyalty or breach of trust” and “theft, robbery or embezzlement which have been committed both against the company and the employees.”
Dismissal is unjustified and the company must pay compensation
How did the court react: In a ruling by the Social Division of the Supreme Court of Castilla-La Mancha (TSJ), the court declares the dismissal of an employee of a Mercadona store in Toledo to be unjustified.
As stated in the ruling from October 15, the Supreme Court does not uphold the disciplinary dismissal and classifies it as an unjustified dismissal, as it is disproportionate, thus agreeing with the lower court that ruled in this sense.
The supreme court additionally states that it was a product intended for waste that could not be sold again, and that it involved a single croquette, which cannot be regarded as fraudulent or dishonest behavior or disloyalty. Such behavior would not warrant the dismissal of an employee.
How does the matter end? The Supreme Court of Castilla-La Mancha ordered Mercadona to reinstate the dismissed employee or pay compensation of 40,000 euros. According to the third largest Spanish newspaper El País, Mercadona confirms that no arbitration procedure was initiated and that it will pay the compensation set by the court for unjustified dismissal.
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