Longtime Lidl Employee Fired for Drinking 17p Water While Working at Checkout with Wrongful Dismissal Claim Rejected

An employee at Lidl was fired from his job after he was found to be drinking a 17p bottle of water due to feeling 'dehydrated' whilst working at the checkout counter. The employment tribunal has also rejected his claim of wrongful dismissal.

The employee, Julian Oxborough, who worked at the Lidl Wincanton store for over 10 years, was dismissed from his job following the incident, which took place on 19 July 2024.

What Happened at the Checkout

Oxborough was serving a customer who wanted to purchase a bottle of water that was part of a multipack, and thus did not have a barcode. The customer exchanged the bottle for another one that had a barcode and left the original bottle by the register. Oxborough then drank from the original bottle, using it to refill his own drink whilst he continued attending to customers.

The store manager found the discarded bottle the next day near the checkout and suspected a breach of company policy. The manager saw that it was Oxborough via the CCTV footage and invited him to a meeting.

The Consequences of Drinking a Multipack Bottle

Oxborough was suspended as an investigation was done into allegations of misconduct. At the inquiry, Oxborough said he was feeling dehydrated during his shift and was concerned about his health, adding that he made his personal squash drink too strong to drink. According to Oxborough, the multipack bottle could be written off as he had seen single bottles of water in the canteen without receipts.

Oxborough was then asked about payment for the bottle, in which he admitted he may not remember taking payment or that he had likely forgotten. 'No, I think I may have forgot or can't actually remember taking it,' said Oxborough, adding that he was in a rush by the end of his shift and forgot to get the bottled water written off. Oxborough, however, whilst acknowledging his mistake, emphasised that he had no intention of being dishonest, and described his dismissal from his job as 'a huge overreaction'.

No Guarantee That the Incident Would Not Be Repeated

Despite Oxborough's claims, area manager Karina Moon, who was overseeing the inquiry, said he had inconsistent explanations on whether he intended to buy or write off the water. Moon also questioned why Oxborough did not go for the tap water instead, and that he had four days to come forward about the matter but did not do so. Thus, Moon said that Oxborough was aware of the procedures to be done, and how there was no assurance from him that this would never happen again, which left them with no other appropriate alternative to employment termination.

Oxborough stressed his lack of intention to be dishonest at the tribunal, attributing the mishap to him being tired, stressed, hot, thirsty, unwell, as well as concerned about potentially contracting Covid from his partner, and being in a hurry to catch the bus after his shift was done.

The Employment Tribunal in Southampton also upheld Lidl's decision, rejecting Oxborough's unfair dismissal claims. Lidl welcomed the verdict.

'We would never take the decision to dismiss a long-serving colleague lightly, and the tribunal has upheld that our actions were fair and followed a thorough process. As a retailer, maintaining a consistent zero-tolerance approach to the consumption of unpaid stock is essential to our operations and ensures that clear rules are followed by everyone across the business,' said a spokesperson for Lidl following the decision by the tribunal.