Harrods worker suspended for taking her lunch leftovers home

Anthea Harding, who works for the Harrods staff canteen, has been suspended for 'stealing' after she tried to take her lunch leftovers home. 41-year-old Harding, from Bloomsbury, has her lunch provided by Harrods. She was too busy to eat it all at lunchtime, so wrapped it up to take it home. However, she was stopped by a security guard on her way out of the building, and accused of stealing the food.

She told the Evening Standard that she had no idea she had to finish her lunch on the premises, and had been so keen to get back to work that she saved it for later. She had a box containing the leftovers of a pie, mash and beans, and wrapped it in her apron to take out into the street. She was sent a letter by Harrods in which it suggests that she had been trying to hide the food in her apron.

She was suspended on February 3, after a meeting with her bosses. A her employer Eurest (which operates the staff canteen) told the Daily Mail that it was going through a formal disciplinary process. She is waiting for a hearing, where she will learn whether she can return to work.
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Odd reasons to be in trouble at work

It's hard to imagine how taking some cold leftovers home could threaten your job. However, we have seen people lose their jobs for the unlikeliest of reasons. Here are five of the oddest.

1. In February we reported the story of the woman known only as Cella who was fired over a Tweet. The most unusual thing about her case was that she hadn't even started work. She Tweeted something derogatory about the job she was due to start at a Texas pizzeria, and her new boss replied that she was sacked.

2. Ray Mears suffered a similar fate in the same month. He was due to speak at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show, but after the BBC showed an episode of Room 101 where he complained about caravans, he was dropped from the gig.

3. In September last year an estate agent in Walthamstow was fired after being caught on camera stealing a chocolate bar from a flat he was meant to be showing to prospective tenants.

4. Back in February last year a man in Milford was sacked from his job as a forklift driver, after using the machine to dislodge a Twix from a vending machine. He had bought the chocolate bar, but when it failed to fall, and banging on it didn't work, he used the machine to shake the Twix free. He was immediately fired.

5. And in 2008 a waitress in Ontario decided to shave her head to raise money for a cancer charity. The 36-year-old raised $2,700 to support those suffering from the same disease that had killed her father. However, when she returned to work and refused to wear a wig she was fired.

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