A man in South Holland was fired after his wife refuelled her car with his company pass.
The man — a project manager at a fire prevention firm — even took the case to the subdistrict court, reports RTL Nieuws. The court, however, would prove entirely unsympathetic.
Setting the scene
The company had provided him with a Renault Megane in May, as well as a fuel card to pay for the vehicle’s fuel expenses.
On Friday, June 17, the man injured his ankle and was unable to drive himself to work until the Wednesday of the next week.
However, a day before the man went back to work, his employer discovered that the company fuel card had mysteriously been used.
And the evidence says…
Camera footage from the petrol station showed a woman in a Volkswagen Golf refuelling her car with the card.
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When asked about it, the employee was unable to think of a good explanation for why this woman was using company funds.
Taking this as confirmation of funny business afoot, his employer fired him for theft of company property and a disrupted employment relationship.
Keeping it in the family
The mystery woman would turn out to be the disgraced project manager’s wife.
As his ankle injury prevented him from driving himself to work for several days, the man’s wife elected to drive him.
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He had wanted to tell his employer about his wife using his fuel card but had forgotten about it. If only there had been a certain time at which he could have come clean to his employer before being fired…
I want my job back! (or €52,000)
After being fired, the man decided to take things up to the subdistrict court, demanding either his job back or a severance pay of €52,000.
However, the court found that the man was not allowed to have a private car refuelled with the company card, even if it was taking him to work.
As such, he was not entitled to the €52,000 severance pay or his old job.
What do you think of man’s firing? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
Theft is theft. The card was for HIM to use, not for someone else. The rational thing to do would have been to pay for the gas with their own card then submit a request for a reimbursement.
He could easy repay it back,but there was a intention to fire him.In any other way company decision make no sense.
The man used the card in a manner for which he was NOT Authorized. It’s called theft. His ability to pay it back or not pay it back has no bearing.