October 13, 2009
A cautionary tale from Deutschland where a German boss has been forced to eat humble pie after sacking his PA for scoffing some of his lunch.
So tempted was Magdalene Happ with the lunch of meatballs she had prepared her civil servant boss that she couldn't resist tucking in. However her boss took a dim view of this luncheon larceny and reportedly sacked her on the spot.
"My client feels she did nothing wrong and the response was disproportionate," said Happ's lawyer Wolfgang Pinkepank at the subsequent employment tribunal. Guru is inclined to agree with him, especially after it emerged that Happ had worked for her manager for 34 years. So much for that working relationship; torn asunder by a solitary meatball.
And who is the man responsible for this shameful sacking? Step forward Hermann Schulte-Hiltrop, who has now swallowed his pride and apologised in efforts to settle the dispute out of court. In a classic understatement, our Herman said: "I believe that the punishment in sacking her without notice did not fit the crime and as a result I apologise.
"I should have been more sensitive and I believe now that I was not well advised to react in the way that I did." Let that be a lesson to any disciples who take a fancy to someone else's grub. You never know where it might lead.
So tempted was Magdalene Happ with the lunch of meatballs she had prepared her civil servant boss that she couldn't resist tucking in. However her boss took a dim view of this luncheon larceny and reportedly sacked her on the spot.
"My client feels she did nothing wrong and the response was disproportionate," said Happ's lawyer Wolfgang Pinkepank at the subsequent employment tribunal. Guru is inclined to agree with him, especially after it emerged that Happ had worked for her manager for 34 years. So much for that working relationship; torn asunder by a solitary meatball.
And who is the man responsible for this shameful sacking? Step forward Hermann Schulte-Hiltrop, who has now swallowed his pride and apologised in efforts to settle the dispute out of court. In a classic understatement, our Herman said: "I believe that the punishment in sacking her without notice did not fit the crime and as a result I apologise.
"I should have been more sensitive and I believe now that I was not well advised to react in the way that I did." Let that be a lesson to any disciples who take a fancy to someone else's grub. You never know where it might lead.
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