A hypermarket employee ate a croissant and was fired. The court overturned the company’s decision

A hypermarket in Bragança fired a worker for eating “a croissant already taken off the shelf and receiving promotional stamps without making the appropriate purchases,” according to Jornal de Notícias (JN).

The Labor Court overturned the sanction and concluded that the reasons given were not sufficient to dismiss the employee. Decision affirmed by the Guimarães Court of Appeal.

An employee of the fruit and vegetable sector ate a croissant worth one euro without registration and payment and received stamps from a customer between October and December 2021.

According to JN, the company appealed the decision, alleging that the employee “was prohibited from receiving tips from customers in cash or in kind. This behavior called into question the trust that the company had placed in the employee.”

The judges determined that “even if both sets of facts are recognized as disciplinary offenses, neither of them, due to their gravity and consequences, makes labor relations impossible.”

Regarding the croissant, the Court of Appeal of Guimarães stated, citing JN, that the fact that “a worker violated established procedure by not asking the manager’s permission to eat it before the corresponding violation was filed did not do anything that other colleagues did not do” . don’t do it and it doesn’t hurt.”