Yesterday someone here swears that someone ate their 6 ounce carton of yoghurt. A group of employees reached the agrement that if caught, the perp, regardless of who it is, should be fired on the spot. I find that a bit extreme- I think the public mockery if found out would be punishment enough. Anyone agree?
And, has anyone ever had this happen at work, and the perp was caught? What happened to them?
This happened at a hotel I worked at once. The assistant director of hotel services was the one who stole the food and was caught. And then she pouted and said, “I’m pregnant!” and declared herself able to steal whatever she liked, regardless of to whom it belonged.
I imagine if someone had stolen her food, though, that person would have been fired on the spot.
A reasonable response to me would be public ridicule and an admonition not to do it again, possibly with the inclusion of a Wall of Shame in the break room.
Just as some parents force their teen to smoke the entire rest of the pack of cigarettes in one sitting after junior is caught smoking, the yogurt theif should be required to eat the entire rest of the contents of the refrigerator, and then re-stock it. Soy milk, non dairy creamer, Italian dressing, tabasco and all.
It happened at my workplace and the person was fired.
It’s theft. How is it different from taking money from someone’s desk, or purse?
It should be handled however theft is handled.
Perhaps the person whose food was stolen should be the one to choose the punishment. So whoever nicked my salad last week will be in line for public flogging. Hmmm…I’m liking that idea.
In all seriousness, it is theft and should be dealt with as such.
Based on what I’ve seen in work refrigerators in the past, I like the idea that if caught stealing food, you have to eat all of the oldest thing in there, whether or not it’s hairy and green!
Stump, Hand, Axe —> hand tied to stump…you do the rest.
I think it could be a firing offense. Sure.
In the event that firing the person would be “politically” difficult, they ought to do something for the entire office to help rebuild trust. Buying lunch for everyone would be a thought.
Sometimes, I bring in extra yogurt and leave it on the door in the fridge…
Sometimes, I see a yogurt sitting on the door, and I think, “I think that’s mine.” And, I eat it. I’d hate to be fired for that if I was mistaken, and I’d eaten someone else’s yogurth supposing it was mine.
I don’t actually think it’s worth keeping a yogurt ledger
Sharpie.
I think that it’s plausible that a carton of yogurt, if unmarked, could have been mistaken for one’s own, so I wouldn’t call for a firing based on that alone. I’d give the person the benefit of a doubt and a polite warning and remind folks in the office to mark their food.
That would be a very effective deterent.
At one job, there was an asshole who thought he could help himself to whatever was in the fridge. Well, he drank from the wrong person’s Pepsi bottle one too many times! The woman put old coffee grounds in the Pepsi bottle and left it in there. He stopped after that.
At the next job I was at, we had the same problem. My boss asked me how to fix it. I sent out an e-mail saying that every so often I was going to put some food in the fridge laced with Phenolphthalein (the former active ingredient in Ex-Lax). Steal if you want to, but you’re playing Russian Roulette. Now, I never actually did it, but the threat itself seemed to work.
Owning up to a simple mistake is not the same as denying responsibility for a blantant act. If you ate a yogurt you sincerely thought was yours, owned up to the mistake and even offered to replace the yogurt tomorrow, that’s one thing. The guy with the mid afternoon munchies who goes and eats the sandwich and two apples he knows full well aren’t his, and then denies knowing anything about it, is the one who should be made to eat the science experiments in the back of the fridge.
Firing is extreme in both cases.
Unless it’s the bosses lunch. Then all hell should break loose.
I’ve personally fired a handful of people for doing it. My reasoning was that if they have no reservations about stealing from another person that they work side-by-side with, then they probably have even less reservations about stealing from the company they work for.
It’s also a moral booster for other employees knowing that their manager cares enough about them to not put up with that crap.
If it’s a mistake and they own up and replace it, a warning should suffice.
If someone denies doing it and it is well known that they did it, then fire them.
Just about every office I’ve ever worked in had a Fridge Thief who would take food or drinks that didn’t belong to them. And, like the “I’m pregnant!” woman, one of my co-workers who got caught said that she needed to find food because she’s diabetic and needed to eat. She was still written up because if she knew her diabetes would cause problems, it was her responsibility to make sure she had access to her own food.
I also had an office manager who would go through the fridge every day and throw out all food that didn’t have a name on it, largely because she was sick of dealing with the whole issue. All food had to be labeled with the owner’s name and date. (She also threatened to just get rid of the refrigerator altogether, but that’s another story.)
Now, no one but me and a couple of other people use the refrigerator, and to the best of my knowledge, no one steals food.
As to the punishment, a disciplinary write-up should suffice, but if the theft continues, a firing would be justified.
Robin
We (a group) did that once. We had a potluck salad club at work. We would all bring in ingredients that we thought we be good in a salad, each week someone was designated to bring a tub of lettuce. We had fantastic salads!
Occasionally, someone woudl bring in grilled chicken. Everything aas labelled "Lettuce Lunch League " with a Sharpie or a post-it note. One day, somehow a “LLL” post-it note came off its intended baggie and got stuck to a full rotisserie chicken. As we were ripping it apart to toss onto the half-dozen salads, a co-worker (her hsuband worked n our office too) peered in the fridge, looked confused, look at us and said: “Um… where did you get that chicken?”
We were of course horrifed, but we sent one Lettuce Leaguer running across the street to buy a replacement rotisserie chicken from a deli. All was well. They got to have a bird fresh from the oven rather than reheated, no harm no fowl. 
Whatta biatch!
You know, if I was her boss I’d have said: “Wow, did your pregnancy suddenly take you by surprise when you got to work? 'Cause if you knew you were pregnant this morning when you were getting ready to come, you shold have packed some extra snacks.”
That’s because you’re the person who got to eat the yogurt, not the person who went to get their yogurt for lunch only to find that you had eaten it.
I work in an academic setting and there’s a sign on the fridge that says: IF “YOU” ARE CAUGHT TAKING FOOD THAT “DOES NOT BELONG” TO “YOU”, YOU ARE SUBJECT TO “DISCIPLINARY ACTION” UP TO AND INCLUDING FIRING.
Because it’s a bunch of academics, the controvesy created by the sign was not the threat of firing but the misuse of quotation marks.
IMO, first offense = very stern warning (ie, written warning); second offense = fired.