Worker Wins £5,000 Payout After Only Being Given Three Chicken Nuggets For £1.99
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A worker has won a £5,000 payout after complaining about the three chicken nuggets he was given for £1.99 in his canteen.
Steven Smith stated that he felt ‘shocked’ and ‘disillusioned’ at the fact he had paid £1.99 for three 'nugs - and he was even more frustrated to be told that an extra portion would cost him 99p.
Scottish Steven, then 30, told a canteen employee ‘if I wanted a Happy Meal I would go to McDonald's’.
He then declined to pay for the over-priced 'nugs, and stormed off.
Following the row, the woman behind the counter said she was "almost afraid to come into work" and Steven was then sacked for gross misconduct and "violent" behaviour.
However, a tribunal has now found that Steven's dismissal was actually unfair because company bosses did not investigate the matter properly first.
Steven had been employed within the human resources team at Teleperformance Limited since November 2016.
Speaking during his hearing, Steven said: "Due to the disillusion of what was presented before me in the white box at which the food was presented in and the sheer shock of what I was presented, I showed nothing more than dissatisfaction at which said canteen lady should have offered to raise a complaint.
"However, [the canteen worker] did not do this and instead antagonised me by stating if I wanted more I would be charged an extra £1 for 3 chicken nuggets.
"Due to further shock and dissatisfaction I advised if I wanted a happy meal I would go to McDonalds.
"I said the meal was supposed to be subsidised – not the portion size."
Explaining his flare up in temper, Steven said he had been on medication and had also worked as much as 12 hours of overtime.
While he was sacked a month after his second disciplinary hearing on October 2019, he later appealed the decision, alleging the company had a ‘vendetta’ against him.
And a follow up tribunal backed up his argument, proving that his redder face was down to medication he was taking as opposed to than anger, and that the company's investigation was flawed.
Employment judge David Hoey said: "The sarcastic remark about a happy meal is not by itself abusive or rude.
"For some the comment may have been positive depending upon their food preferences. For others it may have been negative.
"The investigation that was carried out was one that no employer acting fairly and reasonably on the facts of this case would have carried out."
Steven is now to be awarded £840 for unfair dismissal, £3,333.60 as compensation for the situation and £1,008 for his notice pay and the wrongful dismissal.
Tyla has contacted Teleperformance Limited for comment.
Topics: Life, Food and Drink