Gousto packager sacked for eating stolen peanuts

A food packager for food recipe box firm Gousto was sacked after she ate peanuts stolen on the factory floor, an employment tribunal heard.

Barbara Lisowska was fired for gross misconduct for endangering customers with food allergies in May 2024.

The 65-year-old claimed she could not eat the peanuts as she had dentures and appealed to an employment tribunal.

However CCTV footage showed her eating the nuts at the plant in Warrington, Cheshire. An employment judge rejected her claim for unfair dismissal at the Manchester hearing.

The hearing was told Lisowska was spotted eating the peanuts on the factory floor on 12 April 2024.

CCTV footage showed the grandmother eating at her station and then hiding something up her sleeve, the hearing was told.

The footage then showed her "putting something in the bin", it was claimed.

The tribunal heard empty peanut tubs, which belonged to Gousto, were found in the same bin.

Lisowska was fired for breaking health and safety rules in respect of food contamination.

The industrial tribunal was told the packer "wears dentures and does not eat nuts". She denied stealing the two packs of nuts.

Lisowska, who is Polish, claimed her sacking was fuelled by race discrimination and due to her health problems.

The mother-of-one said: "My dismissal was not an isolated incident but the final act in a continuous course of discriminatory treatment."

The packer added it was down to "harassment linked to my health condition" and "because of my lack of English and my need for a Polish interpreter" .

Gousto employs 1,200 people at its factories in Warrington and Lincolnshire, as well as its headquarters in London.