Sainsbury's sacks worker of 20 years after he took ‘bags for life’ without paying

A Sainsbury’s worker of 20 years was sacked after taking “bags for life” without paying after a night shift, a tribunal heard.

Niamke Doffou selected the “zero bags used” option on the self-service checkout as he packed up his £30 shop, an employment tribunal heard.

He was hauled in front of bosses who sacked him after watching CCTV footage of the incident and deciding the supermarket could no longer trust him.

Mr Doffou, a native French speaker who has lived and worked in Britain for nearly two decades, had claimed he was “tired and unaware of what he was doing”.

However, his claim of unfair dismissal was thrown out by a judge who said it was “hard to argue” with the decision to dismiss him after the theft of the bags, which are sold to customers for either 30p or 65p.

The tribunal was told Mr Doffou worked as a night shift assistant at Sainsbury’s Romford superstore in east London from June 2003 until he was fired for gross misconduct in October 2022.

Personal shopping

During the August bank holiday in 2022, he did some personal shopping in the early morning after working a night shift.

He bought £30 worth of food, pillows and bedding, but CCTV footage showed he didn’t pay for multiple reusable “bags for life” that he took to put his shopping in at the self-service checkout.

The tribunal was told he made “more than one” trip to get bags, despite selecting the zero bags option on the screen and checking his receipt.

Giving evidence, Mr Doffou accepted that Sainsbury’s had a zero tolerance approach to theft.

In September 2022, he was invited to attend a disciplinary investigation meeting, where the CCTV was played to him.

At a disciplinary hearing the following month, he was dismissed for gross misconduct.

The tribunal was told: “[The disciplinary hearing chairman] formed the view that he had deliberately selected the zero bags option on the self-checkout, knowing full well he would need some to put his bulky shopping in.

“This in turn, she concluded, meant that [Sainsbury’s] could no longer have trust in [Mr Doffou] as an employee, even if the bags did not cost as much as his shopping had.”

‘Not credible’

He appealed this decision, but this was dismissed.

Employment Judge Eleena Misra KC said: “Having considered all of the evidence before me I concluded that the claim for unfair dismissal is not well founded and is therefore dismissed.

“The CCTV footage and receipt clearly proved to [Sainsbury’s] that [Mr Doffou] took ‘bags for life’ without paying for them.

“[Sainsbury’s] carried out a reasonable and proportionate investigation into the alleged conduct and he was given a full opportunity to respond.

“[Mr Doffou]’s explanations were not deemed to be credible explanations and [Sainsbury’s] was entitled on the evidence to conclude that he had committed misconduct notwithstanding the low value of the bags taken.

“Once the decision maker had concluded that he had acted dishonestly and committed theft, it is very hard to argue that the decision to dismiss fell outside a reasonable band of responses. I find that it was within such a band.”