this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2026
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A Ford employee says he lost his job after being accused of stealing a $1.95 cookie, only for the company to later realize he’d actually paid for it.

60-year-old Kurt Kromm had worked at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant for 11 years, but told Shifting Gears he was fired after the company believed security footage showed him taking a cookie from the break room without paying.

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[–] MojoMcJojo@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It wasn't about the cookie

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 8 hours ago

it was about his pay, benefits, retirements.

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 11 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

But to even think of using it as an excuse..

In Norway/most of Europe a lawyer would've had a field day with this case.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 8 hours ago

they are hoping the employee wont lawyer or if they do it would be expensive for them.

[–] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

At will employment baybeee

[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

The cookie...

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 41 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

its not an accident, they often use this excuse to get rid of legacy employees in other industries so they dont have to pay them more down the line, like when they retire or they are set to get more in investments in thier retirements, or thier salary is too high or thier insurance is costing them too much, they just got caught with thier hand in the cookie jar.

especially him being 60, likely will retire in 5ish years, ford likely knew that and trying to get rid of him now, but someone in managment made a mistake, and miscalculated when they should get rid of him.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

they are like testing the waters with the 60yo, then they can apply it to other employees.

If I had to guess, I'd say we're way past the "testing" stage and doing this at industrial scale. This just happened to be the kind of egregious implementation of policy that trickles into the news cycle.

For every Kurt Kromm, I'll bet there's a dozen employees fired due parking tickets or misentered vacation or failure to meet some impossible milestone in they're performance plans. More traditional and acceptable routes for firings.

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[–] kevinsky@feddit.nl 24 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Even if he did steal this cookie, imagine valueing your employee's so little.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 8 hours ago

they will just make some other excuse to "fire" him. like his attendance, his workload, being mean to others,,,etc.

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 8 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Imagine having cookies in the break room that you have to pay $2 for... wtf.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 8 hours ago
[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've gone through psych evals in corporate hiring that ask a bunch of bullshit "would you steal a penny to feed a starving orphan" questions, intended to weed out anyone with an ounce of conscience.

They mostly just teach you to lie to your boss

[–] bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago

Jesus Christ. Should've followed it up with the question, "why is the company purposely withholding a penny when it could be used to feed a starving orphan?"

It's like with overly strict parents; the only thing they are teaching their kids is how to lie and sneak around

[–] olenkoVD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 day ago

What the fuck

[–] dan69@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago

It’s 100% some new eager to the position/role security kid who hasn’t made any progress so they chose to pick on the tiniest infringement to be able to get a nickel raise at the end of year.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 129 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

They didn't fire him for stealing the cookie. They fired him because he's old and probably earning twice what a new hire who could do his job would earn. The cookie was just an excuse.

Every employer, big and small, has a collection of petty rules on the books that are only there to be enforced against people they want to get rid of "justifiably" and not have to pay unemployment.

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[–] Thebeardedsinglemalt@lemmy.world 51 points 1 day ago (6 children)

At my last job they have a policy of people who retire are allowed to cash out Extended Illness Bank (EIB) hours at full hourly wages if you are over a certain age and have a certain number of years with the organization. The bank is maxed max out at 400 hours.

One day I was in HR working for a reporting meeting. An employee who was less than a month from hitting the age/tenure threshold was being fired for a miniscule reason.

[–] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Yep. I remember having to temporarily sit at the desk of some department head to address a network problem, whose desk was covered in paperwork involving some poor custodian who was asking for a medically necessary limited period of light duty as a result of a work-related injury, and this director's handwritten notes all over it, with shit like "if she can't do the job she shouldn't be here, let's draw a line under this," etc. It was clear exactly what they were getting at; they ALL knew the law, hence the handwritten notes and vague language. The casual nature of it was revolting.

[–] cecinestpasunecommunication@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Corpos aren't human in any way that matters.

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[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

At a previous job the general manager was trying to coach me on how to talk to people who had been hurt on the job, in an attempt to talk them out of going to the ER or urgnt care for treatment. I never had to do it, but my intent was to do the opposite of that if I was ever put in that situation. I can lie too, assholes.

That company went out of business in 2024.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

sounds like the one in the article, and an another story i heard years back. a a stewardess was 60-70+yo in her airline job, and the airline accused her of stealing and fired her, she was earning 200k+/year plus other benefits, and she was on the verge or retiring. they knew what they were doing. they are probably figure people wouldnt notice and she would accept it, or they mightve calculated the potential lawsuit costs of firing her.(using this as a template to fire people before they even have a chance to sue).

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[–] victorz@lemmy.world 211 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

Who puts cookies in the break room and expects you to pay for it.

It's cookies.

They're cheap.

Treat your workers.

Treat your colleagues.

Edit: very curious to hear the mindset of the few down voters of this.

[–] azimir@lemmy.ml 79 points 1 day ago (11 children)

Lolz. Public corporations don't care about your well being. If there is an ROI on any action, it's worth taking and if that means no cookies because it ensure the shareholders get a fraction of a percent return, then no cookies for you.

I'm working hard to leave my current corpo. They're down to the "bring the dry pen back to get a new one" stage of bean counting. That's a sinking ship to disembark from ASAP.

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[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Why isnt there free cookies in the breakroom?

Why are they nickle and diming employees for snacks that give them the energy to do their job well and full?

[–] MangoCats@feddit.it 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

$1.95 is more than a nickel and a dime... that's a profit center for several people in the supply chain.

[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Inflation about to hit our lexicon.

[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 122 points 1 day ago (2 children)

60-year-old

That's why. I guess Ford won't have to pay him some retirement package.

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[–] f1error@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago (14 children)

At one point in my life, I coveted and desired to own a Ford above all else.

Today, I can proudly say I have never owned a Ford, and I will NEVER own a Ford. Ford has become an exceptionally shitty company in the past decade or more. For all the history they have, I hope/desire/wish they will cease to exist in the near future.

[–] moopet@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

There always used to be a joke in the UK about Fords being cheap on the second-hand market. You could get parts easily, so they were cheap to maintain, as well. But you'd see the ads saying 50k miles, new clutch, new exhaust, new CVs, bearings, etc. because they fell apart all the time. This was back when Japanese cars were proving to the world how reliable cars could be. Nobody I knew wanted a Ford, though some people got them if they were really cheap.

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[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 63 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You don't just fire a $200k worker over a $2 cookie without looking for a reason to fire them.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 1 day ago

200k+year is the reason, they just try to obfuscate by saying it something else, and stealing is the easiest to accuse and harder to prove. they probably expect the person to accept it and lawyer up, because lawyers are expensive.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Johnny Cash enters the chat...

[–] MunkyNutts@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Well, it's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59 automobile

It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 points 59 minutes ago

"Well the headlights, they were quite a sight, with two on the left and one on the right..."

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 49 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Why are employees expected to pay for cookies in the break room?

Oh right, capitalism. Human decency be damned.

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[–] devaly@ani.social 80 points 1 day ago (13 children)

Should sue for defamation and damages

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[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 47 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

100% this is 'we want to fire this guy because he made somebody one or two or three levels above him on the totem pole look really foolish'.

Its the same bullshit as 'oh you don't get your security deposit back because ... we decided you scratched something, somewhere'.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 35 points 1 day ago

Yeah. If your company is looking that closely into your behavior, they are looking for an excuse instead of a reason.

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[–] SayJess@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The snack shop at my place of employment charges $4.69 for a Tyson chicken patty sandwich. Ya know, the patties that cost $0.85 per patty if you buy a pack at the store. Tuna on wheat? $4.00.

It does have a slice of American cheese on it though.

[–] FahrenheitGhost@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Ah yes. That tasty "cheese product".

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