Fired for eating pizza?

[simplyfiredstories]

Seriously, let me explain.

I had been working for a mortgage company as a developer for 18 months and things were going well. Then, one day I saw that a different group in my company had just finished up a pot-luck and had some pizza left over. I thought they would probably end up throwing it away and I was kind of hungry so I went for it ... I took a slice of pizza.

Apparently the employees who threw this pot luck were planning to take it home and were offended by my action. Now I thought we were all basically on the same team and if someone didn't like what I did they would tell me so and I would apologize and maybe offer to pay for the pizza. These employees ended up telling their manager, who told her vice president about what I did.

The worst part about this is that I wasn't told about any of this until a month after the incident. No warning, no second chance.

I know that I left an impression because to this day my former coworkers refer to unattended pizza as "programmer bait".

[mulltommy]

wow, what a bunch of cheap losers they are. it's just pizza for crying out loud. Just another in the list of things that make you go hmmmm.

[achaeon]

Originally Posted by mulltommy

wow, what a bunch of cheap losers they are. it's just pizza for crying out loud. Just another in the list of things that make you go hmmmm.

It depends on your point of view, I've fired someone for stealing a hot pocket from the fridge, theft is theft, you should always ask. What does assuming do again?

[Gridpoet]

Originally Posted by achaeon

It depends on your point of view, I've fired someone for stealing a hot pocket from the fridge, theft is theft, you should always ask. What does assuming do again?

you my friend are a tool.

[achaeon]

Originally Posted by Gridpoet

you my friend are a tool.

No I protect my employees. You obviously have no concept of this idea. We had lunch theft almost everyday from the fridge for several weeks until we installed a camera, fired one person, and it's never happened again.

When you consider someone a tool, try talking to an employee almost everyday depressed because they now have no lunch and no money to go out and buy something.

Since when did it become ok in society to take someone else's things without asking?

[GetFiredUp]

Originally Posted by achaeon

No I protect my employees. You obviously have no concept of this idea. We had lunch theft almost everyday from the fridge for several weeks until we installed a camera, fired one person, and it's never happened again.

Where I can sorta agree with you on the whole lunch theft thing (Don't know all the specifics on the person) You have to agree that your Lunch Room was probably a posted policy which you made sure was known before you went through the steps of installing the camera. Slight difference between that and a "leftover" slice of pizza. Had anyone said anything to the guy on the spot "Hey, don't take that" I am thinking he wouldn't have touched it.

[BeaKeR]

Originally Posted by achaeon

No I protect my employees. You obviously have no concept of this idea. We had lunch theft almost everyday from the fridge for several weeks until we installed a camera, fired one person, and it's never happened again.

When you consider someone a tool, try talking to an employee almost everyday depressed because they now have no lunch and no money to go out and buy something.

Since when did it become ok in society to take someone else's things without asking?

Come on, there's a big difference between grabbing a lunch out of the fridge and grabbing a piece of pizza that was left laying around. In every office I've ever been in, unattended pizza (donuts, catering stuff, etc) in common areas is fair game.

And really, I can't even see firing someone for stealing a lunch if it was a first offense. I've worked with foreigners who were just totally unfamiliar with the concept of the community fridge, and thought the stuff in it was supplied by the company.

And on top of that, who escalates to their VP about a slice of pepproni and mushroom?! That's just asinine!!

[wundt]

I have to agree that food left out, unattended is fair game.

Stealing food from a fridge is very different, and I can understand taking some action.

[jinsaku]

Yum towards pineapple pizza.

Seriously though, that completely bites. If they had a problem with it, they should have just let you know (cause obviously someone saw you).. not escalate and escalate until you get called in and fired by a VP.

And I thought *I* preferred to avoid conflict.

[jgarrison]

Originally Posted by GetFiredUp

Where I can sorta agree with you on the whole lunch theft thing (Don't know all the specifics on the person) You have to agree that your Lunch Room was probably a posted policy which you made sure was known before you went through the steps of installing the camera. Slight difference between that and a "leftover" slice of pizza. Had anyone said anything to the guy on the spot "Hey, don't take that" I am thinking he wouldn't have touched it.

You're right, I wouldn't have taken it if I thought anyone cared. I took the pizza in broad daylight, when the room was full of people. Theft is theft, but this was not theft.

[TheOnlyDaive]

Originally Posted by achaeon

It depends on your point of view, I've fired someone for stealing a hot pocket from the fridge, theft is theft, you should always ask. What does assuming do again?

Dude. You've got major problems. Seriously. "I've fired someone for...blah blah blah". WHO CARES?! Are you one of those jerks who things that being a part of management makes you better than your peers? Dude, I've got 95 people working for me at my day job, and another 15 working for my own business, and if I had the attitude that you've got, I'm sure that no of these people would put in their all for me and my business.

I'll tell you another thing, too. If you were my manager, and walked around talking the same crap that you post on these forums, you'd be leaving the job site in the back of an ambulance. A hint - lose the friggin' arrogance, and you might find something more important in life than trying to make yourself seem important.

About the story - Love it, and can totally identify since at my day job, we've had at least 3 meetings this year about not touching food left in conference rooms

[Dikaiosune]

Best. Fired Story. Ever.

I don't know what some of those other guys are talking about, that's corperate sadism if I ever saw it. They might as well put you all in gimp closets- oh wait, they do....

[ragreen]

Originally Posted by achaeon

No I protect my employees. You obviously have no concept of this idea. We had lunch theft almost everyday from the fridge for several weeks until we installed a camera, fired one person, and it's never happened again.

When you consider someone a tool, try talking to an employee almost everyday depressed because they now have no lunch and no money to go out and buy something.

Since when did it become ok in society to take someone else's things without asking?

except this wasn't someone's lunch out of the refrigerator... it was one slice of pizza, left after a pot-luck. Big difference, if you can't see it, you should work on observational skills.

[Prethen]

I work at the same company that he (jgarrison) was fired from and worked with him over several years. He is no thief, however there is a little more to the story. The company is not as asenine as you might think.

The company over the previous period of some months had been experiencing a VERY high rate of thefts of employee lunches from the refrigerators. I had mine stolen at about once per week. It didn't matter if you lunch was in a bag or Tupperware. Sometimes they took the whole bag or container, sometimes they'd leave something behind. I also lost frozen dinners/lunches in this way. One coworker consistently lost his lunch day after day and he was only at the company a few weeks. One time, I put my lunch in at 7:20 AM and a few hours later it was gone.

People were getting pissed....myself included.

The pizza that he took, I admit, anyone might have thought, what the heck. It was a slice in the pizza box, but it was in the refrigerator and not out in the common lunchroom on a table. So, one might assume, if it's in the fridge to leave it alone. Personally, I would, but it's still innocent enough to think that it's for share (unless the box had a penned name on it).

Sometime later, closer to the time that he was fired, there was another group luncheon where they had a buffet. He partook in part of that buffet even though he was not part of that group. After that time he was warned not to do that (and, again, this was relatively innocent and even I've been tempted to do the same).

The senior management of the company was getting sick and tired of hearing of all the lunch thefts; they heard about these two alleged "thefts", then decided it was time to act. He was fired.

Oddly enough...and I never stop ribbing him on this. I, nor anyone else I know, has experienced another lunch theft since then. Hmmmmm. I guess we scared off the "real" thief. One could hope.

He's not a thief, but the company was fed up with what was happening, made an example of him and the incidences stopped. He was at the wrong time and at the wrong place.

[ArmyWife]

Originally Posted by achaeon

It depends on your point of view, I've fired someone for stealing a hot pocket from the fridge, theft is theft, you should always ask. What does assuming do again?

Could you imagine telling people that you got fired for stealing a HotPocket?

Is there any worse food to get caught stealing?

[Scrabby]

I was there. Still there. It wasn’t like he was raiding the fridges and snarfing stuff out of people’s Tupperware. (Someone was actually doing that, like Prethen said—gross, huh?)

We have frequent (at least weekly) company, department and team events where food overages are left for anyone to pick over. This team apparently just wasn’t done. Easy mistake. (And by the way, Prethen, I don’t think he took it out of the fridge, either) .

But that’s only half of the injustice. The other half is that they waited a month or six weeks to lower the boom on poor Pizza Boy! Either something’s a sack-able offense or it’s not; you don’t mull it over for thirty days first. Besides, the statute of limitations on food-related offenses should be no longer than the amount of time it takes to pass through the digestive tract.

Anyway, it sucked and we miss Pizza Boy, though his mishap has immeasurably enhanced our culture, what with “programmer bait” and all. Sometimes we replace the gummi bears (“programmer fuel”) with gummi pizzas just to watch the heads spin.

Prethen? What the H#ll is that?

[Scrabby]

Originally Posted by ArmyWife

Could you imagine telling people that you got fired for stealing a HotPocket?

Is there any worse food to get caught stealing?

Gotta agree with you there. The penalty for stealing a hot pocket should be having to eat it!

[JenIsSoSweet]

In my particular company we are not permitted to have food on the floor. While that may seem silly to some...."The Floor" is call center termonology for the area where we all work. As a result, anytime we have food, it is left in a common area. Because we work different shifts on the same team, sometimes we won't offer the food to the people outside of our team until after 2pm. Sometimes we don't offer at all because people keep eating at it until it's gone. The only problem is....some people who are newer to the company don't understand and they graze on our food. Our food is either purchased by us, the teammates, or it is given to us as a prize for winning a competition. So what RIGHT do you have to take something that isn't yours? I agree, it's pathetic to let it go to waste....but if it belongs to them...it is their choice to either share or be hogs. You don't have the right to take away that choice. Fortunetly for the atmosphere of our company, everyone shares. We put our teams first and then sent out e-mail to the rest of the company letting them know what is available and where it's available.

[wundt]

Originally Posted by Prethen

I work at the same company that he (jgarrison) was fired from and worked with him over several years. He is no thief, however there is a little more to the story. The company is not as asenine as you might think.

That is very different than what the original story implies. If the food is left out after the meeting is fair game. But if someone has taken the effort to box it up and place it in the fridge, then it becomes someone's property and should be left alone.

While I think firing was perhaps a severe punishment, but I think what he did was indeed theft. I think jgarrison was an idiot for taking food without asking in an office environment where people were already senstive about food theft.

[JJ_30]

Nah, there have to be other factors at play here. I've known some cheap people, there's def. something this guy is not telling us, or he doesn't know. The pizza was just icing on some cake, or some excuse.

[jgarrison]

Originally Posted by wundt

That is very different than what the original story implies. If the food is left out after the meeting is fair game. But if someone has taken the effort to box it up and place it in the fridge, then it becomes someone's property and should be left alone.

While I think firing was perhaps a severe punishment, but I think what he did was indeed theft. I think jgarrison was an idiot for taking food without asking in an office environment where people were already senstive about food theft.

There was no hyper sensitive food stealing environment when I took the pizza. The lunch thefts didn't become highly publicized until later.

Incidentally wundt, I found a better contract a week after my termination and had multiple offers. This was in part due to the great reference my boss at the mortgage company gave me. That week was the longest I'd been unemployed since I finished graduate school over 10 years ago. I've never sat around for 6 months collecting unemployment, or had a referral like "unreliable and could not be trusted to work without supervision", as you have. And you're calling me and idiot!?! What a joke.

[Prethen]

He was fired for a stupid reason. The refrigerator thefts had been going on for months. I don't think he got some of the general memos early on because he was a contractor. I would agree, that things only heated up, anger-wise, in the company from the first incident forward. He was fired due to the first incident which was stupid. He even jokes with me today that my lunch is now safe that he's not there! He's not the type of person that would deliberately take someone else's food.

But, let me tell you. I was getting extremely frustrated with whoever the thief was. I would have loved to humiliate the idiot if I ever caught him/her. My first direct comment would be, if you wanted food so badly, all you would have to do is ask me and I would have given you part of or all of my lunch. My next question would be, how come you haven't tried a food stamp program? It's true....I fantasized about catching this moron.

Today, they have a camera in the common lunch area, but not directly on the refrigerator, although I wish it was. Maybe part of the reason the camera went up was due to this, but it happens to be near an exit and it's probably more security related.

[wundt]

I was not going to respond to jgarrison because his response did little to change my opinion of him. However, with Prethen’s response, I will add the following…

Yes, firing was a ridiculous punishment (which I said from the start) and it sounds like (as usual) poor management allowed a mole hill to become a mountain. However, based on Prethen’s account, his actions were, at the very least, unwise. I believe that %90+ of the people who read this message board will agree that taking food out of a fridge borders on theft and is a very different story than the one he told in his original post.

Second, just to respond to jgarrison’s comments. The BEST person I know was recently laid off (from a company rhyming with Hell) and was unable to find work for almost two years. This guy is intelligent, gregarious, kind, generous, has years of exceptional work experience, and dozens of raving reviews from former employers, yet, thanks to a variety of factors, had a very hard time finding a job. Meanwhile, I know many a-holes who find and hold onto their jobs even in a tight economy. The assumption someone is a better person because they found a job quicker is just wrong.

Also, my former boss gave me excellent reviews before they messed up my paycheck and I complained. And frankly, in a town where she is universally disliked, the story of her spite is worth much more than her praise would be.

[jgarrison]

Originally Posted by wundt

I was not going to respond to jgarrison because his response did little to change my opinion of him. However, with Prethen’s response, I will add the following…

Yes, firing was a ridiculous punishment (which I said from the start) and it sounds like (as usual) poor management allowed a mole hill to become a mountain. However, based on Prethen’s account, his actions were, at the very least, unwise. I believe that %90+ of the people who read this message board will agree that taking food out of a fridge borders on theft and is a very different story than the one he told in his original post.

Second, just to respond to jgarrison’s comments. The BEST person I know was recently laid off (from a company rhyming with Hell) and was unable to find work for almost two years. This guy is intelligent, gregarious, kind, generous, has years of exceptional work experience, and dozens of raving reviews from former employers, yet, thanks to a variety of factors, had a very hard time finding a job. Meanwhile, I know many a-holes who find and hold onto their jobs even in a tight economy. The assumption someone is a better person because they found a job quicker is just wrong.

Also, my former boss gave me excellent reviews before they messed up my paycheck and I complained. And frankly, in a town where she is universally disliked, the story of her spite is worth much more than her praise would be.

In your original post you said that what I did was theft. For your benefit, I will define the term: Theft means intentionally and/or surreptitiously stealing something.

In these posts, my former coworkers have attested to the fact that I am not the type to intentionally steal something. I ate the pizza in a cafeteria full of people, hardly a surreptitious act.

Now you’re hedging and saying that what I did bordered on theft. Whatever.

You also called me an idiot. I brought up a little about my education and work history to challenge that assertion. That the best person you know was unable to find work for two years says more about the people you associate with than anything else.

Apparently you thought I was aware of the lunch theft epidemic at the time. Now you know that’s not the case and I await your apology.

[Bejita463]

Well, here is my two cents. The views represented by my two cents may or may not necessarily reflect the views of Bejita463 himself. Uh.. whatever that means.

Taking someone else's food from a refridgerator or other container such as tupperware, is most definately stealing. Unless of course the tupperware container is full of cookies and set out in the open intentionally. There is the trouble though. It's all subject to interpretation. Maybe the person just sat at that desk and had cookies his/her mother sent in a tupperware container to keep them fresh... (s)he comes back from the restroom and they are all gone. Understandable to be upset in that circumstance yes? Well, what if the cookies were there instead because they baked them specifically to share with the office?

This is a pretty gray area to me, and accusing someone of theft for something like that is pretty difficult to justify. In the office however, I tend to believe that food left in the open is 'fair game'. However, to avoid that exact misunderstanding, I find it best (and polite as well) to ask beforehand.

[Swizylstik]

This is another example of a person who is deluding themselves rather than face the fact that they are a kook and that is why they were fired. Where's the backstory on THIS one?


P.S. Tech guys are evil!

[jgarrison]

Originally Posted by Swizylstik

This is another example of a person who is deluding themselves rather than face the fact that they are a kook and that is why they were fired. Where's the backstory on THIS one?


P.S. Tech guys are evil!

You're just jealous because we make more than you do.

[jgarrison]

Originally Posted by Bejita463

Well, here is my two cents. The views represented by my two cents may or may not necessarily reflect the views of Bejita463 himself. Uh.. whatever that means.

Taking someone else's food from a refridgerator or other container such as tupperware, is most definately stealing. Unless of course the tupperware container is full of cookies and set out in the open intentionally. There is the trouble though. It's all subject to interpretation. Maybe the person just sat at that desk and had cookies his/her mother sent in a tupperware container to keep them fresh... (s)he comes back from the restroom and they are all gone. Understandable to be upset in that circumstance yes? Well, what if the cookies were there instead because they baked them specifically to share with the office?

This is a pretty gray area to me, and accusing someone of theft for something like that is pretty difficult to justify. In the office however, I tend to believe that food left in the open is 'fair game'. However, to avoid that exact misunderstanding, I find it best (and polite as well) to ask beforehand.

Since I was limited to 200 words, I wasn't able to mention all of the other circumstances relating to this incident. For example,

• this pizza was paid for by the company, not the employees

• I ate the pizza at 3:00 PM. No one went hungry.

• Pizza never tastes as good the next day. It gets all hard and crusty.

• Right next to the refrigerator are three soft drink vending machines where everything is FREE. You just push a button and get a soda without having to pay. I felt like there was an atmosphere of communal sharing.

You know I'm telling the truth about this because my former coworker (and self appointed fact checker), prethen, will surely clarify any misleading statements.

Other companies that I have worked for have been fairly small. We weren't divided into departmental fiefdoms where party assets were jealously guarded.

I admit I misread the situation. That doesn't make me a thief. You can be assured that I haven't gone near other people's leftovers since.

Those of you in this post who have condemned me weren't there, don't know me, and shouldn't be so judgmental.

[briganm]

hey guy dont listen to the masses ill share my pizza with you and if there is food in the open its the laws of nature first come firts serve lol you dont see bears bitc#!^ about who ate there trout lol its all in fun People learn to cope. LOL

[stacy]

What a blessing in disguise. I couldn't imagine working with a bunch of backstabbers like that!! You should have told them where to stick the rest of the pizza!!!!!!!!!! I would have done the same thing as you..If they were planning on taking it home, why didn't they wrap it up and put it in the fridge?
Anything left out on a table is fair game, anyone who works in an office should know that.