Fast Food Employee Gets Fired After Unwittingly 'Stealing' An Excess Burger They Were About To Throw Away

Corporations wasting food instead of donating it because it doesn't generate income should be illegal, yes?

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• April 5, 2022

It goes without saying that food service industry workers deserve more than the bare minimum the corporations are offering. One of the many practices in these multinational fast-food chains that should be outlawed is throwing away food instead of donating it to those in need.

This highly contested practice was once again highlighted in this Redditor's story. OP (original poster) is 19 years old and works at a fast-food place famous for its pancakes.

During work, one of the new servers mistakenly placed an order for a junior cheeseburger instead of the other meal for kids. As the food was about to be ready, she caught the error, told the cooks, and corrected the ticket but the food was already cooked.

They pushed the meal to the side and went about their day. About an hour later, OP saw the food still sitting on the "window". She asked the crew if the food was "dead" meaning it was about to be thrown away and they all said yes.

Instead of throwing it away, OP put it in a to-go container and set it aside in the fridge. She admits that she has been struggling financially and planned to bring the food home to her 4-year-old daughter.

By the end of her shift, OP took the burger, clocked out, and rode the bus home. OP gives the warm burger to her daughter who is overjoyed.

She leaves her to play with her dolls while eating and OP tries to relax when her phone rings. It was the general manager calling to tell OP she was caught on camera stealing the burger and hiding it in the fridge.

OP explained that the food was "dead" and opened up about her recent financial struggles

The GM said that while OP's situation is unfortunate, she violated company policy. Further, what OP did qualifies as stealing and is grounds for automatic termination.

OP tried to reason with the GM to no avail. OP admits that she made a mistake but she doesn't truly think she did anything wrong by bringing home food that was about to be thrown away.

Does OP have any grounds to fight this and file for wrongful termination? Read the original post below before casting judgment:

"About an hour later..."

"She saw on camera where I stole a meal."

It's no mystery that OP was talking about IHOP on her story

She said she was pissed over getting fired for food that was about to be thrown away after her years of tenure in that restaurant

If OP still wants her job back, she can offer to pay for the 'stolen' food

Unfortunately, OP is in such a tight spot financially that she can't even offer to pay the food back

Helpful redditors shared other places where OP can work and get free food without any issues

If you really think about it, assuming that this is OP's first offense, she wasn't fired over a burger

She could have been fired for either or both of these reasons

She can also try sharing her story with a local network who can amplify the issues OP has experienced and maybe help others in the process

Sadly for IHOP, they did not get a glowing review from past employees who read OP's story

One lesson OP can learn: ask if you can take the food first before actually setting it aside

The real helpful advice: OP can easily get a job at a better place

She shared that she tried to talk to IHOP's corporate office to straighten things out

But they stood by the GM's decision to fire OP. Luckily, she was able to get a better job immediately!

Admittedly, according to IHOP policies at least, OP was wrong to take the burger. The bigger issue is, when will corporations stop the practice of throwing away food when they could easily feed the less fortunate?

OP is not alone in her financial struggles. Most of us are one emergency away from bankruptcy and knowing that is highly stressful; fortunately, OP quickly found a new job to support herself and her daughter after the supportive comments on Reddit.

Chelsi