Getty ImagesA train worker who was sacked after first class passengers were served sausage rolls from a bin has said he was going “over and beyond for the customer”.
Peter Duffy, who worked for London North Eastern Railway (LNER), was accused of preparing sausage rolls he had “retrieved from a bin”, which were then served to passengers by a colleague.
Another member of train crew reported hearing laughter from the kitchen before the food was served and made a complaint after noticing sausage rolls that were in the bin had disappeared.
Mr Duffy was sacked by the rail firm, but later claimed unfair dismissal and discrimination. However, at a tribunal in Newcastle, a judge concluded LNER had acted reasonably.
On 7 May 2023, Mr Duffy and a fellow train crew member were working on an LNER service departing York when two passengers in first class requested sausage rolls.
Another member of staff who reported the incident said: “Myself and a host from standard class had been in the kitchen to get ourselves food when the host who was cooking told us the sausage rolls had just gone in the bin.”
Later, the member of staff reported hearing “lots of laughing” from inside the kitchen where Mr Duffy and his colleague were based.
Mr Duffy was told CCTV footage appeared to show him retrieving items of food from a bin.
The footage suggested the food was plated and re-heated by Mr Duffy and served to customers by his colleague.
Both were suspended pending an investigation into the alleged breach of food hygiene standards.
‘Gone too far’
At an investigatory meeting on 17 May 2023, Mr Duffy said he was “a person who goes over and beyond for the customer”.
He said: “I clearly took them out as there were none left for people in first class, but they were wrapped in foil.,
“We had totally run out. I have just gone too far for the customer in my mind.”
Mr Duffy was found to have committed gross misconduct and was dismissed in July 2023.
He claimed at the tribunal in August that he had suffered from anxiety and depression, while a union representative said he “had suffered from a recognised condition that day, known as transient global amnesia”.
Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.
In reasons published on Wednesday to support the tribunal’s judgment, the judge said Mr Duffy’s actions were not something that arose in consequence of his disability.
