Ford Worker Fired Over $1.95 Cookie Theft Charge Wins Settlement, Clears Name, and Joins New Employer

Kurt Krom, an employee with 11 years of service at a Ford truck plant, was fired on May 9 after purchasing a $1.95 chocolate chip cookie from a cafeteria vending machine during his overnight shift due to low blood sugar. After his first card swipe failed, he successfully completed the payment at another machine. A week later, Ford terminated him for "failing to pay for merchandise," citing surveillance footage that allegedly showed he hadn’t paid, and immediately escorted him off the premises—denying him access to retrieve his personal belongings. Krom maintained he had paid and refused to admit fault as suggested by his union in hopes of reinstatement. He later provided bank statements confirming the transaction, but Ford demanded notarized bank records. After Krom contacted both his bank and Aramark, the operator of the cafeteria payment system, and submitted complete documentation, Ford acknowledged it had “wrongfully terminated” him. By then, Krom had already started a new job, earning $52.51 per hour—up from his previous $48—and receiving a $10-per-hour bonus, with a workplace closer to home. As compensation for the period of wrongful termination, he received approximately $28,000 in back pay (equivalent to about five weeks’ wages). Other Ford employees have revealed that the plant’s cafeteria vending machines have long suffered from technical issues, and similar dismissals over disputed food payments have occurred multiple times before. Krom is among the few who managed to produce conclusive proof of payment and persisted in appealing his case. Although his name has been cleared, his 11-year career at Ford has come to an end.