A Citibank employee in London was fired from the company after allegedly covering his partner’s meals under company expenses and then later lying about it. A court ruled in Citibank’s favor last month. The documents were released on Friday.
Financial analyst Szabolcs Fekete sued Citibank last year after he was fired by the company over his use of expenses during a work trip to Amsterdam. Fekete claimed expenses for two coffees, two sandwiches, and two pasta dishes, alleging that he consumed them all himself.
Later, it surfaced that the food had actually been for his partner too, who had joined him on the trip but was not an employee at Citibank. The company fired Fekete over the incident.
The food came within the company’s €100 daily allowance
According to a court transcript seen by CNN, Fekete was asked during an email exchange in July 2022 whether he bought all of the food and drinks for himself only, to which he responded: “On that day, I skipped breakfast and only had one coffee in the morning. For lunch, I had one sandwich with a drink and one coffee in the restaurant and took another coffee back to the office with me, and had the second sandwich in the afternoon…which also served as my dinner.”
Fekete also questioned why there was so much interest in his expenses, as they all came within the €100 daily allowance given by the bank. “Could you please outline what your concern is, as I don’t think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent,” he said, as per CNN.
The Citibank employee’s story later changed
The analyst however later confirmed that his partner joined him on the trip and that the pair shared the meals. According to CNN, the banker claimed he had been experiencing personal difficulties when he first denied sharing the food, and that he had been taking strong medication at the time.
Fekete attempted to sue Citibank after being fired
Feketa opened an employment tribunal case against Citibank last year, citing unfair dismissal. Employment Judge Caroline Illing ruled in Citibank’s favor, due to a matter of honesty rather than the amount of money.
“In considering the substantial merits of this case, I have found that this case is not about the sums of money involved,” the judge said, as reported by USA Today.
“I have accepted that the expense report may have been submitted in error,” the judge said. “However, I am satisfied that a dismissal in relation to the misrepresentation allegation alone would fall within the band of a reasonable response by a reasonable employer.”
The post Banking analyst is fired for claiming his partner’s meals as company expenses appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/zr8xMFw
No comments: