Woman fired for giving 16-cent treat to toddler

[Outta here]

Woman fired for giving baby a free Timbit


Woman fired for giving baby a free Timbit

JENNIFER O'BRIEN
The Canadian Press
May 7, 2008 at 10:49 PM EDT

LONDON, Ont. — Giving a free Timbit to a baby has cost a single mother of four her job.
Nicole Lilliman, 27, was fired Wednesday from her Tim Hortons job in this southwestern Ontario city for giving one of the 16-cent blobs of fried dough to a tot who came in with a regular customer.
"I have been fired for giving a baby a Timbit," Ms. Lilliman said Wednesday.
"It was just out of my heart — she was pointing and going 'ah, ah. . .' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy."

Ms. Lilliman, who has worked at the store for three years, said she thought little of the incident since Timbits are often doled out to dogs and children.
She said the baby was about 11 months old, and she gave her the treat to quiet her, since her mother — a Tims' regular — had been "having a bad day."
"I could see [the dismissal] if it was a sandwich or something," she said. "But it was a Timbit."
She'd forgotten about the Monday-morning incident until she was called into the office Wednesday.
Three managers greeted her, saying she had been caught on video, giving free food to a child.
"They said, 'Remember, Monday you gave out a free Timbit,' " she said. "I had to think, then I was like, 'Oh yeah,' and I smiled because I thought I'd get a warning."
Instead, she was fired for theft.
Giving food away free is against the rules, said Tim Hortons district manager Nicole Mitchell.
"Employees aren't allowed to give out free products and that's the bottom line," she said. "She gave out free product and it doesn't matter if it is a Timbit or a coffee or a doughnut or 10 sandwiches or what."
The Timbits given to pets, Ms. Mitchell added, are usually "day-old and recycled."

As I was reading this, I was wondering what happens to all those employees who give out timbits to pets. Then I got to the last line in the article. I guess a recycled timbit is a company write-off then is it? and what exactly is a recycled timbit???
If I hadn't already broken my addiction to CrackHortons, this story would be enough to get me there. :-?

 

[hermanntrude]

I wonder, if the real Tim had been there and seen it happen, what would his reaction have been? would he have fired her or congratulated her?

 

[MikeyDB]

I believe that Tim Horton's are franchise operations and the owner establishes the "local" policy with respect to what's permitted and what isn't so it's not I believe a case of "conspiracy" across the Tim Horton's spectrum....but I could be wrong.

But does anyone think for a moment that the pettiness demonstrated by this one shop towards this person will stimulate a response from people to protest the ridiculousness of this situation? Will anyone not go through the drive-thru becasue the form of "justice" that seems most impactful on these jerks is meddling with their bottom-line...bottom feeder mentality?

It will be forgotten in a second and the world will continue with another injustice permitted to thrive.

 

[Colpy]

I believe that Tim Horton's are franchise operations and the owner establishes the "local" policy with respect to what's permitted and what isn't so it's not I believe a case of "conspiracy" across the Tim Horton's spectrum....but I could be wrong.

But does anyone think for a moment that the pettiness demonstrated by this one shop towards this person will stimulate a response from people to protest the ridiculousness of this situation? Will anyone not go through the drive-thru becasue the form of "justice" that seems most impactful on these jerks is meddling with their bottom-line...bottom feeder mentality?

It will be forgotten in a second and the world will continue with another injustice permitted to thrive.

Unfortunately, you are correct on all counts......

 

[karrie]

While I don't enjoy Tim's deep fried treats and try to avoid the place as a general rule, this article doesn't really convince me that the entire chain is heartless.

Like Mikey said, and he's right, they're franchises to begin with, so the actions of one aren't necessarily reflected upon all.

Plus, I've seen enough information about wrongful dismissal issues to know that many employers looking to get rid of a problem employee have to wait for the stupidest infractions to do so, because without something concrete to point a finger to, it's too easy for an employee to file against them. You know, that weird, disruptive person no one wants to work with, who manages to undermine the stability of the workplace, but doesn't do anything that you can technically write up.

I'm not saying that's what this woman was like, but, for an employer to fire over something like that would hint to me tha t they were looking for a way to be rid of her.

Or they're just total arses who don't understand their customers. Tough call. ;-)

 

[DurkaDurka]

Looks like the Timmies's HQ doesn't like the bad publicity generated by this franchisee, so another store has hired her on.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/422936

Tim Hortons rehires Timbit donor





May 08, 2008 10:14 AM
Curtis Rush
STAFF REPORTER
A day after she was fired for giving away a single Timbit to a child, a Tim Hortons employee in London, Ont., has her job back.
Nicole Lilliman, a single mother of four, has been rehired at another Tim Hortons restaurant after what the chain described as an “overreaction” by a manager.
Lilliman was fired yesterday after she was seen giving one of the small blobs of fried dough to a small child who came in with a regular customer on Monday.
The 27-year-old woman, who worked at the outlet for three years, said she didn’t see any harm in giving away the 16-cent treat, since Timbits are often doled out to children and dogs.
But a manager fired Lilliman after telling her that giving food away free was against the rules.
Hours later, Lilliman received a call offering her a job at another Tim Hortons store.
"She wasn't comfortable returning to the same location, so she has been rehired at another location but with the same franchise owner," said Tim Hortons spokesperson Rachel Douglas.
Douglas said Lilliman was very "gracious" in accepting the offer, and will be repaid for any loss in pay.
Tim Hortons does not have a corporate policy governing the giving away of doughnuts, Douglas said, adding that franchise owners are free to set their own policies.
"We're working with the store owner on this policy,” she said, calling Lilliman’s firing “an overreaction and not appropriate.”
At worst, she said Lilliman should have been warned about the owner's policy.
Douglas also said it's common for Timbits to be given away if they are day-olds.
"This incident was very disappointing for us," she said.
With files from Canadian Press

 

[lone wolf]

Geez ... and up here if you go through the drive-thru with a dog, poochie gets a timbit!

 

[Unforgiven]

CYA at it's best!

 

[MikeyDB]

Great!

It's nice to see rationality prevail because as everyone knows no Canadian would even consider taking up the cause to send a message to fools like these franchise owners.

But I'm learning from several people here at CC that Canadians only want more control over their lives by corporations and businesses....releives them of the burden of thinking for themselves....

 

[Praxius]

A recycled timbit I think would be one that fell on the floor once or twice before being bought.

And chances are that particular store might have had an issue in the past where way too many timbits were being handed out and it was making a dent in their profits after a while, so they phased in this new policy of not giving away timbits unless they are old or "recycled"

And regardless, stealing is stealing.... a product from the store was given away without approval, they don't want their employees doing this, one did, now she was fired..... that's the end of that chapter.

If you want better security in your job and to be treated like a human, then don't work in a fast food restaurant.... seems pretty simple to me.

And the first thing that crossed my mind was who the hell gives a timbit to an 11 month old baby? Isn't that sort of a choking hazard or something?

 

[Praxius]

Looks like the Timmies's HQ doesn't like the bad publicity generated by this franchisee, so another store has hired her on.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/422936

Tim Hortons rehires Timbit donor

May 08, 2008 10:14 AM
Curtis Rush
STAFF REPORTER
A day after she was fired for giving away a single Timbit to a child, a Tim Hortons employee in London, Ont., has her job back.
Nicole Lilliman, a single mother of four, has been rehired at another Tim Hortons restaurant after what the chain described as an “overreaction” by a manager.
Lilliman was fired yesterday after she was seen giving one of the small blobs of fried dough to a small child who came in with a regular customer on Monday.
The 27-year-old woman, who worked at the outlet for three years, said she didn’t see any harm in giving away the 16-cent treat, since Timbits are often doled out to children and dogs.
But a manager fired Lilliman after telling her that giving food away free was against the rules.
Hours later, Lilliman received a call offering her a job at another Tim Hortons store.
"She wasn't comfortable returning to the same location, so she has been rehired at another location but with the same franchise owner," said Tim Hortons spokesperson Rachel Douglas.
Douglas said Lilliman was very "gracious" in accepting the offer, and will be repaid for any loss in pay.
Tim Hortons does not have a corporate policy governing the giving away of doughnuts, Douglas said, adding that franchise owners are free to set their own policies.
"We're working with the store owner on this policy,” she said, calling Lilliman’s firing “an overreaction and not appropriate.”
At worst, she said Lilliman should have been warned about the owner's policy.
Douglas also said it's common for Timbits to be given away if they are day-olds.
"This incident was very disappointing for us," she said.
With files from Canadian Press

Well there you have it.... emotional appeal to the public wins out again.

 

[MikeyDB]

Praxius

Please synthesize your enthusiasm for firing a woman for giving away a timbit...with aid sent to millions across the planet.....

One timbit is going to bring the Tim Horton's empire to its knees?

Try working a little perspective into your crime and punishment agenda....

 

[Avro]

The managers that fired her and arses like Praxiuos know nothing about PR which has as much to do about business that anything else.

I worked at McDonald's when I was in high school and at the end of the night the food that wasn't sold was thrown in the bin, a co-worker and I use to sneak some of it out the back door for a few mentally ill homeless guys......should we have been fired for giving away garbage?

Only a heartless jackass would think so but had we been caught we would have been.

Glad to see she got her job back for being a human being and demonstrating good PR for a good customer.

 

[Zzarchov]

Im gonna go with Karrie on this one,

Normally when someone is fired for something stupid that is only "technically" wrong but no one cares about,

Its because they are looking to fire you but can't prove anything (ie, your till is always $50 short but they can't prove it since other people have access to it)

 

[MikeyDB]

Zzarchov

If reasonable grounds existed to terminate this employee's employment why would there be any need to use so fraudulent a scheme as the one we witnessed? It's "justice" in your and Karrie's "book" to forego disclosure and integrity of process to get rid of someone who's perhaps the wrong color or the wrong religion or the wrong ethnicity or the wrong...

Instead of having a robust and genuine rationale behind the idea of firing someone it's perfectly OK with you that this behavior is substituted for openness and honesty?

 

[Zzarchov]

Because no matter how robust your reasoning is, when it comes to employment law, its not enough.

Unless you have 100% irrefutable proof its almost impossible to fire someone. Even in the instance above, if the employee had denied giving away the timbit for free, it would probably be impossible to fire the employee.

The Burden of Proof is pretty high considering you don't have the same powers to extract or safeguard evidence as the judicial system.

 

[MikeyDB]

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at here....

There's no "innocent until proven guilty" as part of the employer/employee relationship?

We're better off as a society to simply turn our back on the fact that "employment" is a condition of this "democracy" that gives the employer the ultimate control over the future well-being of the employee and is subject to no legal standards?

I thought we lived in a free and democratic society...not a mass of indentured slaves...

 

[Avro]

Im gonna go with Karrie on this one,

Normally when someone is fired for something stupid that is only "technically" wrong but no one cares about,

Its because they are looking to fire you but can't prove anything (ie, your till is always $50 short but they can't prove it since other people have access to it)

If they can't prove it she is innocent until proven otherwise....what country do you live in?

Also considering they have video, you'd think that whatever she was doing would have been found out by now.

Considering she has been rehired by another Tim's I think we can consider your argument moot.

Face it, the manager is a dick.

 

[I think not]

MikeyDB, use your brains if at all possible.

No employer is going to fire an employee over something that costs probaly less than 1 cent. For one simple selfish capitalist reason, it costs money to fire an employee.

 

[Avro]

MikeyDB, use your brains if at all possible.

No employer is going to fire an employee over something that costs probaly less than 1 cent. For one simple selfish capitalist reason, it costs money to fire an employee.

...and yet they did.

I've witnessed this crap, not sure why it's so hard for some to believe.