Supermarket employee fired for “serious misconduct” after eating a “croqueta” intended to be thrown away

His 16 years of seniority did nothing. The employee of a Mercadona supermarket in Albacete was fired for eating a croqueta intended to be thrown away. But as reported The Countrythis dismissal was considered unfair by the courts which rejected the company's appeal, formulated after a first judgment in May 2024. The company must reinstate the employee or compensate her to the tune of approximately 40,000 euros .

After 16 years in the business, she is fired for “very serious” misconduct

The events took place on July 8, 2023 around 10 p.m. when employees were cleaning and tidying up the supermarket after it closed. The employee in question was responsible for tidying up the “ready-to-eat” section, gathering together food intended for immediate consumption. It was then that she ate a cooked croquette packaged in a blister pack which was intended to be thrown away. According to our Spanish colleagues, she told the store coordinator that she had eaten the product worth 4.20 euros without paying for it. Problem: the store prohibits these employees from consuming products without paying for them. This employee, who had worked in the company for 16 years, was then unceremoniously dismissed by her employer who highlighted “very serious” misconduct.

Justice decides and justifies its decision

In court, the supermarket brand and its lawyers affirmed that this fault corresponded to “fraud, disloyalty or a breach of trust”, to “theft, robbery or embezzlement” of the company but also to a “failure to to contractual good faith, as well as breach of trust in the performance of the work”. But the courts were not of the same opinion… The court rejected the charge of theft. Particularly because these “croquetas” intended to be thrown away, “have no commercial value”. He also refused to talk about “misappropriation of products”, since only one “croqueta” was eaten. Finally, the “very serious” nature of the fault was not recognized, due to exceptional and one-off action which deserved only a simple disciplinary sanction. Mercadona therefore complied with the second judgment and compensated its former employee.