EasyJet Settles with FA Fired for Eating a Bacon Sandwich
Jeff Edwards January 17, 2017
The crew member was terminated from her job because she failed to ask for proof of purchase after her supervisor offered her a microwaved bacon sandwich.
EasyJet has reached a settlement with a flight attendant who was fired for eating a sandwich from the galley while aboard a flight departing Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) in January of last year. The airline terminated the three-year employee for theft and gross misconduct based on the 22-year-old’s failure to ask for a receipt from the purser who gave her the sandwich.
The case was heard this month by an employment tribunal in Cambridge Magistrates’ Court, but the company reached an undisclosed out–of-court settlement with the former employee before the tribunal could render a judgement in the case.
According to transcripts obtained by The Sun, flight attendant Shannon Gleeson and the cabin manager on the flight were reported by a coworker after the pair were observed eating a bacon sandwich and a croque monsieur before the flight. Both sandwiches were part of a menu of items intended for passengers to purchase in flight. The airline later fired Gleeson, saying that she was an “accomplice” in the theft.
“I am not a thief and that was what I was labeled as,” Gleeson told the panel. She added that she apologized for the mistake and offered to reimburse the airline for the sandwich, but insisted that she was unaware that the food was considered stolen property.
Despite eventually settling the case, EasyJet officials maintain that Gleeson’s termination was not only rightful, but a relatively clear-cut one as well.
“I think there was an element of choice. There was an element of knowing the rules were not being followed,” a company representative told the panel. “I believe Shannon was an accomplice in it. There was in my opinion no way that she didn’t know that the item was being consumed without the proper authorization. Just because the paperwork didn’t show it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been stolen. It didn’t need to be checked in my opinion. The fact that two revenue items had been heated and consumed was enough.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
She could sue the airline that the fat in the bacon has now caused her arteries to harden.
"Reported by a coworker" How bad is the atmosphere at Easyjet if coworkers are ratting out each other for eating a sandwich
Hmmm, makes me wonder how well this company treats their employees. The airline may be right by policy but a reprimand might have been enough. If this was a long haul flight over 3 hours I would hope that there were provisions for the flight crew.
So, the flight attendant was offered a sandwich and got fired for accepting it? That seems like a huge overreaction, especially since there's no mention of the manager who offered her the sandwich being disciplined. It almost feels like deliberate entrapment... What a weird company.