Fired Over a Burger

Secretary Sacked After Nibbling From Boss' Buffet

Corbis

"This is not a classic case of theft."

A German woman who worked at the same company for more than three decades recently got fired for pilfering a small burger from her boss' buffet. Her supervisors say she abused the trust they had in her. The case will soon be heard by a labor court.

Magdalene H.* is fighting for her job -- and her reputation. The secretary had worked at a building association in Dortmund for 34 years when she was given her notice over a burger she took from the boss' buffet.

The case, which dates from last July, is now being considered by a labor court in the western German city. And the media are not letting it pass quietly: "How heartless can a boss be?" raged the Bild tabloid on Wednesday.

And the case adds to public outrage over a recent string of German firings over minutiae. First, a 50-year-old supermarket cashier lost her job after taking bottle deposit slips worth a handful of pocket change. Then came the case of a bakery worker in Friedrichshafen who was fired after €1.36 ($1.99) was found to be missing from the till. A trash collector in Mannheim who recently got fired after salvaging a child's bed out of the garbage.

'A Highly Sensitive Case'

Magdalene H.'s problems started while she was preparing a buffet for her boss' meeting more than a year ago. Succumbing to a pang of hunger, she took a burger and a bread roll from the platter, Bild reported.

When her boss challenged her about the burger, she admitted what she had done. "She was of the opinion that her behavior was acceptable," said her lawyer Wolfgang Pinkepank. "Bread rolls and burgers left over after conferences are always given to employees to eat."

But the secretary's supervisors stand by their decision to fire her. They argue her actions are a breech of trust. "Of course, viewed from the outside, this seems like small fry," the building association's chief executive, Hermann Schulte-Hiltrop, told the newspaper. "This is a highly sensitive case. When you lose your trust in someone you are left with a bad feeling."

On Tuesday, both parties met at the local labor court in Dortmund. It emerged that the building association did not allow its employees to take food from the buffet -- but many did anyway. According to the secretary, even the former boss of the company took the odd snack for himself. Meanwhile, any food left over from conferences was routinely offered to all employees.

Even the judge stressed that "this is not a classic case of theft." She suggested that the firm should give the secretary a warning rather than a dismissal. But the building association refused to budge. Early next year the case of the burger will go to court.

* Under German privacy law, SPIEGEL ONLINE is only permitted to print the first letter of a person's last name in many instances.

-- jas