By EMMA PAGE - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 6 May 2007
A food worker who poured two cups of Diet Coke at work without
paying for them has lost her job and is facing criminal
charges.
Dunedin worker Jackie Lang was fired from her fulltime job at
fast-food franchise Subway after she shared a drink with a friend
while consoling her during a break.
About two weeks after she was fired, police charged her with the
theft of two cups of Coke valued at $4. She will appear in Dunedin
District Court this month.
Autonomous Workers Union organiser Bill Clark says the dismissal is
one of the worst he has seen. He says the Subway handbook allows
free soda and water while working.
Losing her job and facing criminal charges has upset Lang, who is
taking a personal grievance action against Subway. Through an
intermediary, she said the company's actions were a shock,
embarrassing and had caused her financial hardship. She felt she
should have been given a warning rather than been fired and that
the response was out of proportion to her actions.
"I shared my drink with my friend. I was only trying to comfort
her. Isn't it what most people would do? I mean, I wasn't trying to
do anything wrong. I did what I thought any person would do in the
situation."
Security video footage of the incident shows Lang sharing the drink
with her friend, then refilling the cup and leaving it on the table
when she returned to work.
"Most people wouldn't be fired and put in a police cell for two
hours for sharing a drink."
Clark said Subway called Lang to a meeting on March 19 without
telling her it was a disciplinary matter. She was then told her
action had been referred to police. Lang was charged with theft 20
days later.
Clark is surprised managers at the George St Subway did not deal
with the incident internally as Lang had a clean employment history
and no criminal record.
"It's a human thing to do to offer a drink as comfort. If Subway
doesn't like it, they have internal procedures to deal with
that."
Clark says Lang, who has Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism -
has been hit hard by the stress of losing her job and facing
charges, including having to explain the situation to her new boss.
"She just wants it to go away," he said.
Protests were held outside the George St Subway yesterday, drawing
attention to Lang's case.
Public support for Lang has been strong and local business have
made donations to cover potential legal bills.
The owners of the George St Subway were unavailable for comment
last week. No one could be contacted at Subway's South Island
office. The person who could comment from the North Island office
was unavailable.
In a letter addressed to Lang, the directors said she had given the
drink to a friend without payment and that was considered "serious
misconduct" and a breach of their "trust and fidelity".
National Distribution Union solicitor David Fleming said he had
heard of cases where people were dismissed for similar things, but
getting the police involved was unusual.
"It would be the exception rather than the norm."
