Aspies For Freedom

SUNDAY STAR TIMES,    6 MAY 2007,    Edition a,    Page 4.
Subway calls cops over drink-sharing
By: PAGE EMMA


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."


of Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2007, All rights reserved.

She has AS?

I remember that story -- it was on Campbell Live. There was an interview with the union rep and he said there was nothing in the rules that said that she couldn't have a drink. And shared or not, they didn't lose any more than if she'd poured it for herself.

There was no mention of AS on that article at all. It's not really that relevant to the story, is it? I thought the issue was that she'd apparently broken some unwritten rule -- in which case they (management) should have made their rules clearer!

If I had been this woman's boss, rather than firing her and calling the police I would simply have said, "Hey Jackie, you owe us X amount for those cups of soda," and I'm sure she would have paid and that would have been the end of it.  The issue for me is neither AS nor the fairness of company regulations about giving drinks to guests, it is the degree of overreaction to a seemingly innocent act.  Firing people, involving the police, are appropriate if someone is videotaped, say, sneaking money out of the cash register...I don't see why such drastic action was called for here.

Yes, inwritten rules are stupid! They should have put the rules in black and white so that all staff could know exactly where they stand with regard to things such as this. Guess who is going to boycott Subway?

Thursday, 10 May 2007  

Subway worker theft charges dropped

Police have dropped a theft charge against a Dunedin Subway worker who was sacked for sharing a drink with a friend during a break.

At a status hearing in Dunedin District Court this morning, police used their discretion and withdrew the theft charge against Jackie Lang.

Ms Lang was fired from her fulltime job and was to face a theft charge in court on May 21 after she shared a Diet Coke drink while consoling an upset friend.

Subway allows free soda and water to staff who are working.

However, police brought forward the status hearing to this morning and formally withdrew the charge.

News of Ms Lang's dismissal was published in newspapers across the Tasman and on the internet, prompting the multinational fast-food giant to distance itself from its Dunedin franchise.

The sacking also sparked union outrage, with the Otago University branch of the Labour Party organising a protest march targeting the George St Subway branch, where Ms Lang was employed, and calls for a nationwide boycott.

Autonomous Workers' Union organiser Bill Clark told NZPA today the charge was dropped, saying it showed "commonsense is finally winning out".

Accusing Ms Lang, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, of stealing a free staff drink, sacking her and having her charged by police was an "absurd and vindictive act" by Subway, Mr Clark said.

"It's just a shame it's taken international condemnation and a concerted local campaign to make them see that."

Mr Clark said he hoped the "good sense that's prevailed over the charges today" continued through mediation with Subway management over the issue.

"The fact remains that Subway sacked Jackie unlawfully and then added the stress of criminal charges," he said. "The company needs to be held to account for their behaviour."

Ms Lang said she was relieved to have the charge dropped after having it hanging over her head for almost a month.

"To have the police turn up at my house, take me to a cell and then tell me I was charged with theft was a real shock," she said in a statement released through the union.

"I'm pleased my name has been cleared, but I'm still not very happy about what happened."

Ms Lang said she was amazed at the support she had received.

"It's helped me feel like I'm not alone in this."

Subway and the union are to meet next week in mediation.

Subway initially refused to comment on the issue, saying the matter was confidential between employer and employee.

However, the company issued a statement on Tuesday pointing out that all Subway restaurants were owned and operated individually by independent franchisees.

Dunedin's George St Subway was owned by Galcol Ltd.

Subway said Galcol had "expressed its continued willingness" to resolve the matter through mediation.

I think that was a little extreme of a measure to take against this lady, even if she was NT. Like seriously...WTH?! Dont people get warnings first? All they had to say was "Dont share the freaking coke anymore" I mean come on. I bet they used the most extreme measure of punishment just to get rid of her cause they didnt like her and her AS.

Was this a local franchise, or subway per se, if its the latter ,thenj thats the last time I ever eat there, as much as I do like the meatball sandwiches.

That sounds like something an NT could've done, too. It's going to be harder on her as an Aspie, though; she'll have to find a way to get another job despite an arrest (or even conviction) in her past, and that's a hurdle that's hard to overcome if you're not good at kissing people's butts.

According to the article tenaciouscj posted above, all Subway franchises are independently owned and operated, and Subway's upper management is distancing itself from the Dunedin franchise in the wake of this stupidity...so keep enjoying those meatball sandwiches.

Thank *** for that, I reckon I'm going for a footlong, with extra meatballs, triple cheese and double bacon then (my usual there)

What I wouldn't give though, to live close enough to said dipshit management to torch his car for what he did though

In my youth I lost several jobs for first offenses and for things that co-workers seemed to do regularly. Being that Aspergers wasn't a diagnosis back then, it never occurred to me that it might have been a reason for my situation. My only regret was leaving so many ignorant and uneducated people in my past to once again abuse those who 'just don't fit in'.

In the interviews they had on the telly, they didn't sound like they were distancing themselves from the Dunedin franchise.

There is a law in this country that says, with a few exceptions such as theft -- which in this case appears to have been stupidly misinterpreted -- bosses have an obligation to warn somebody that they are under risk of being fired.

Don't forget we are often not good at multitasking. She would have been so caught up in trying to comfort her friend that she could easily have forgotten about the rule or didn't pay at the time because she didn't think of it.

I don't think she should have been sacked for anything so petty and I also don't think it was theft.

I think these comments are quite unkind and offensive. Comforting a friend is NOT trying to impress her with a "freebie" and I seriously doubt the issue of considering herself above the rules would have even occurred to her.

In summary, this whole thing was a severe overreaction and her bosses acted stupidly and victimised her.