Mom devoted 30 years to her job — now, she’s on final warning for 'stealing' a cup of tea

Workplace loyalty is often praised as a virtue, but what happens when decades of dedication are dismissed over something as trivial as a cup of tea? A Reddit post shared by u/I_am_real_men has sparked debate after revealing how their mother was allegedly pushed out of her job after nearly 30 years of service. The disciplinary letter, dated October 25, 2013, accused the employee of "theft by consumption" for allegedly drinking a cup of tea without paying and a “serious breach of company’s staff purchase rules.”

According to the letter issued by the company, a disciplinary hearing was held following an "investigation meeting" on October 16, 2013. Accused of "theft by consumption," the letter stated that the employee (their mother) on October 16 "consumed a drink of tea from Greggs that you did not pay for." This act, the company argued, was a "serious breach of the company's staff purchase rules."

At the hearing, their mother had a chance to present her side of the story. According to the letter, "You [their mother] were adamant that you did not use Gregg's tea bag to make your drink but used a tea bag that you brought from home."

Despite her defense, the letter concluded by issuing her a final written warning for misconduct. The post has gone viral and drawn sharp criticism online. People on the platform were quick to call out the company’s treatment of the employee. u/RotisserieChicken007 sarcastically commented, “That company should have sued for damages, called the police, and demanded jail sentence because the theft of a whole tea bag is simply unacceptable. The 2 cents they lost on the tea bag could mean the difference between bankruptcy and survival.” u/throwtheclownaway20 curiously asked, "Do they actually have proof that she stole a teabag or are they literally accusing her because she was drinking a brand they happened to sell?

u/DShort99 wrote, "I used to work for a security firm, we looked after all CCTV requests for Greggs exclusively. The amount of footage they ask for from Greggs is insane, they’re after the employees just as much as they’re after the customers. They’ll put requests in for us to extract footage of arrival times and leaving times, staff at tills, and staff eating pastry. It’s nuts! It made me stop eating at Greggs, not financing that garbage." u/snow-bird- remarked, "Serious BEACH? Pretty sure the idiots meant BREACH. She’s actually lucky to not be there anymore.”

u/Enemyonwheels explained, "When they're down-sizing, they'll find any excuse not to pay redundancy. I lost a retail job through downsizing and the excuse was that I let an unauthorized person into the shop before opening time. I was assistant manager and banking the till from the previous night before opening (standard procedure). That day, I forgot to bring my lunch, so, my wife brought it up to me. Because I unlocked the door before opening time just to get my lunch, I lost my job."

Looking at the comments, the user replied, “The fact that you think it's fake shows how laughable it all was, but this is what these fu***rs did to push out Indian ladies like my mum from that workplace. Hence why, I posted it in this sub. Never give your soul to a career or workplace that’ll f*** you in 2 seconds without even thinking about it."