Fired for forgetting to reimburse 89 euros worth of products, the director of a Lidl on hunger strike

the essential The manager of the Lidl supermarket in Joigny is on a hunger strike to contest his dismissal. He had been late in reimbursing products taken from the store. “I’m not going to make myself a thief for 89 euros,” said Abdelkarim Handichi. Supported by his employees, this director of a Lidl supermarket in Joigny, Yonne, began a hunger strike on Wednesday after being fired for delaying reimbursement for products he had taken from a store. The man is installed on a small mattress in front of the supermarket, under a sign installed by the employees, where is written: “Our director on hunger strike”. The store’s 21 employees went on strike in support of their manager. They were still seven, Wednesday, not to have returned to work. The store, however, remained open, staff from outside having been called in to provide service. To read also: Belgium: a Lidl employee dismissed for having eaten an expired cake from the store “I forgot” to reimburse On February 28, Abdelkarim Handichi, had been called in for reinforcement in a Parisian store. He takes four products there for his personal use, for a value of nearly 90 euros, but, in the absence of means of payment, signs a “transfer” which allows him to pay for these items in Joigny, later. “The mistake I recognize is that I had told my manager on Monday evening – Tuesday I pay”, declares this young executive of thirty years, “but I forgot to do it. Now, at some point given, you also have to trust yourself. I’m a store manager, I have a very good salary, I have a company car, I’m not going to make myself a thief for 89 euros”. Dismissal “for real and serious cause” At the beginning of April, his manager informed him that he was laid off for five days. But, in a letter received Tuesday, April 19, Abdelkarim Handichi learns of his dismissal “for real and serious cause”. “How is it that a manager can announce a sanction after the interview and change it a few days later,” Mohamed Sylla, regional representative of the UNSA union, told AFP. “And basically, how can you fire a person for so little? These are managerial excesses that we denounce,” he added.