The man, who is around 25 years old, had been working for the furniture company, which has 25 branches in the Netherlands, since June 2022. He delivered and assembled furniture for customers. He earned around 2,900 euros a month, excluding allowances. The man had a fuel card from his boss.

He was summarily dismissed on January 10, 2024. According to his employer, he had misused his fuel card the previous day. He drove his company bus to a gas station, where he swiped his pass through a reader and entered his employee number and PIN. However, he did not fill up the tank.

Tipster calls company

The camera footage showed this by a blue and black BMW, with a total of 88 litres (for 166.80 euros). That amount of fuel would not be enough for the company bus anyway. There was also a witness, the owner of the unmanned tank site, who informed the furniture company.

The man had to be brought to justice. He stated that the fuel card was not working, which had happened before. After the “reading error” he was going to return to the office. He said that he “did not participate” in refueling BMWs.

There was also no communication between the mechanic and the drivers, according to the camera footage. According to the man, there were often “problems reading” the fuel card. Reason for appealing his dismissal At the judge’s.

According to the judge, the man must have been involved in the case. According to the operations manager at the gas station, you will not be asked for the PIN code until you have recognized the gas card. So there can be no doubt about a “reading error”.

The camera footage also shows that the BMW drivers appear to be waiting for the service technician to walk away, while they could also be refueling at another tank. It is also striking that the driver of the black BMW does not go to the pay station when it is his turn, but rather goes straight to refuel.

When he’s done, he doesn’t hang the hose back up in the holder, but instead places it on a piece of furniture next to the pump. The driver of the blue BMW doesn’t confront him about it, but parks in the same spot, takes the hose and fills up his car. This driver also makes no effort to get to the pay station first.

intention

According to the judge, the camera footage clearly shows “that there must have been intent on the part of the service technician with the BMW drivers.” The fact that only 88 liters does not matter and it does not matter that the man is the breadwinner in a young family.

In addition, further investigations by the company after the dismissal showed that the man had already filled three jerry cans with diesel on Christmas Day 2023. According to him, this was because he had to go to Groningen with a colleague the next day and wanted to make sure he had enough diesel if his fuel card was rejected again.

The dismissed technician must pay Goossens Wonen en Slapen compensation of 6,000 euros, partly because the company suddenly has one less service technician. He must also pay the company’s legal costs.

By the way, the service technician got another job since May.