Albert Heijn must pay worker €17,000 for wrongful dismissal over taking extra freebies
An Albert Heijn franchise in Limburg has to pay an employee €17,000 in severance pay for wrongful dismissal, according to a ruling by the subdistrict court in Maastricht that was published today. The supermarket summarily dismissed the man after 12 years of impeccable service because he wanted to take some surplus salad spoons from a savings campaign home.
A striking detail from the ruling is that the man was expected to leave the supermarket two months after his dismissal because he was looking for a new job after completing his Engineering/Technical Business Administration training. If the Albert Heijn branch had been a bit patient, it would not have had to pay the employee a thing.
The 29-year-old man started working for the Albert Heijn in Hoensbroek in 2013. When he got fired in June, he was a shift leader for operations. The Albert Heijn franchise summarily dismissed the man because he wanted to take home salad spoons from a savings campaign. The items were demonstration models, which were no longer needed after the promotion ended. The department hand had asked the man to set the spoons aside, perhaps to raffle them off among the staff.
When he got caught, the man admitted that he had made a mistake by trying to take the spoons. But he refused to accept that his offense was severe enough for a summary dismissal and took the matter to court.
The court in Maastricht ruled in the worker’s favor. The judge pointed out that taking the spoons was “certainly not a pretty thing,” but it was also a very minor offense against the man’s long and otherwise impeccable employment record. According to the court, the Albert Heijn branch did not have a clear zero-tolerance policy in place for minor offenses. In fact, the supermarket tightened its rules only after the man’s departure. That counted against the employer for the court.
“It is beyond dispute that the man was a valued employee until the incident,” the court said, pointing out that the supermarket’s director even offered him to opportunity to open a tobacco shop with him. “The summary dismissal resulted in the man’s employment ending unfairly and, above all, unhappily. He wanted to end his career there in a respectable manner and on his own initiative.”
The court ruled that the man’s dismissal was wrongful and ordered the Albert Heijn franchise to pay him almost €9,425.87 in transition payment and €7,495.48 in salary for his notice period. The supermarket is also responsible for over €2,625.22 in legal and collection costs.
