UK Man alleges he was fired from Waitrose for eating doughnuts during shift

A UK supermarket Waitrose employee, David Graham, was terminated after being found eating a doughnut that was meant to be disposed of, according to a report by UK's Metro on Friday. Graham claimed that he needed a "sugar hit" during his shift and reasoned that since the doughnut was being thrown out, there was no harm in eating it. Graham allegedly witnessed an enormous amount of food waste and, after a policy change, decided to protest by eating waste doughnuts.

Graham, who had been working at the store since 2017, claimed that food waste would be donated to charity or given to staff, but a new UK national regulation enacted in December 2022 required the disposal of any waste left on the shelves at 9 pm. He said he was frustrated with the level of food waste generated that wasn't offered to charity or the employees. Graham explained that before the policy change, employees were allowed to consume any food waste found in the bakery self-service areas.

Despite attempts to negotiate with the store manager, Graham claimed that the company took a "militant tone" that allowed no conversation or compromise. As a form of protest, he continued to eat the leftover doughnuts, expecting to start a conversation about how to reduce food waste and reinstate the perk. However, Waitrose initiated an investigation, and after spending several "very stressful" weeks attempting to explain himself, Graham was fired for stealing.


The company responded by stating that it has clear and defined policies regarding employees consuming stock and that it distributes as much food as possible to charities. Waitrose stated that it "takes accusations of food waste very seriously" hence, Grahan was dismissed.

In response to this, he said that the company lost a long-serving employee over a doughnut.

FAQs

Q1:What is Waitrose?
Waitrose & Partners is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose.

Q2:Which is UK’s biggest supermarket?
Tesco is UK's largest supermarket chain with over 4,000 stores