Lidl ordered to pay fired manager €170,000 for disputed fraud claim

Supermarket chain Lidl wrongfully dismissed a Rotterdam store manager, the Rotterdam District Court ruled. The supermarket chain accused the store manager of fraud with time sheets. But the evidence rather shows that Lidl does not have its record keeping in order, the court said in a recent published ruling. Lidl has to pay the man a severance package of over €170,000.

The man had worked for Lidl since 2008, during which time he rose through the ranks to become store manager of a Rotterdam branch. He performed that job for 17 years without complaint. At the start of this year, Lidl summarily dismissed him, accusing him of committing fraud with time records, resulting in staff being underpaid.

The former store manager took the matter to court. He admitted to occasionally deleting hours worked by staff from the registration, but stressed that he did so only where data was missing, and the system would not accept the entry. He always posted the final time records in the canteen for employees to verify. The man argued that he did not commit fraud and did not derive any personal benefit from his actions whatsoever.

The Rotterdam court ruled in the man’s favor. It saw no sign of fraud in the evidence submitted. The court pointed out that Lidl never informed the store manager that he was doing something wrong. According to the judge, the fact that the man was able to delete hours “more than 15 times in three months” without “alarm bells going off at Lidl” shows that the supermarket company “did not structure its own organization with sufficient safeguards for the accuracy of time registration.”

That is the supermarket chain’s fault, not the store manager’s. The court also said that the summary dismissal was far too harsh a punishment, especially given the man’s long and otherwise flawless employment record. A warning would have been more appropriate.

The former store manager does not want his job back. The court ordered Lidl to pay the man a series of severance payments: €36,950.62 in regular severance pay, his salary during his notice period amounting to €30,928.81, equitable compensation for unfair dismissal amounting to €100,000, and a penalty for back wages calculated at €7,417.03. In total, Lidl must pay the man over €170,000.

Lidl must also circulate a rectification to staff to clarify that the store manager was not fired due to fraud. If the supermarket does not do so, it will be fined €1,000 per day up to a total amount of €30,000.