"They were Harsh": Ster-Kinekor Employee Fired for Tasting Popcorn Wins Labour Court Battle

• The Labour Court dismissed Ster-Kinekor's bid to overturn a CCMA ruling in favour of dismissed employee Yvonne Mogano
• Mogano was fired in July 2023 after her manager accused her of eating popcorn she was preparing at the Rosebank cinema
• The court found that Ster-Kinekor could not prove any workplace rule existed that prohibited employees from tasting popcorn

A Johannesburg cinema employee who was fired for allegedly eating popcorn on the job has won her case in court. The Labour Court upheld a CCMA arbitration award ordering Ster-Kinekor to reinstate Yvonne Mogano, a multi-skilled employee who had worked at the chain's cinema at The Zone in Rosebank since May 2014.

The incident at the centre of the dispute happened on 30 June 2023. The complex manager, Tyran Naicker, said he found Mogano eating popcorn she had been preparing, and that when he confronted her, she stayed silent and kept eating. He claimed she was still eating when he came back around 20 minutes later.

Read also

Woman who slipped on melted ice cream at N1 City mall wins appeal over liability

Mogano told a very different story. She said she had only put a few kernels in her mouth to check the salt levels, something she said Naicker himself had asked her to do after a customer complained about overly salty popcorn in 2022. She testified that on that occasion, both she and Naicker had tasted the popcorn together.

Following a disciplinary hearing in July 2023, Mogano was dismissed on charges of misappropriation, dishonesty and failure to follow company policy. She challenged the fairness of that decision at the CCMA, where the commissioner sided with her. Ster-Kinekor then took the matter to the Labour Court, arguing the commissioner had misread the evidence.

The court did not agree. Acting Judge M.J. Motshekga found that Ster-Kinekor's own standard operating procedure contained no express prohibition on employees tasting popcorn. Naicker also conceded under cross-examination that he had previously tasted the popcorn with Mogano after the customer complaint. The judge ruled that conduct not expressly prohibited in a procedure cannot simply be assumed to be a disciplinary offence. Ster-Kinekor's review application was dismissed and Mogano's reinstatement, with retrospective effect, was confirmed.

Mzansi discusses Ster-Kinekor vs employee

South Africans had plenty to say about the case in a Facebook post regarding the case:

Read also

KG Moeketsi announces new podcast months after SAfm contract termination

Ncuthu Zangwa wrote:

"I'm sure she was stress eating that popcorn from the 2500 salary they were giving her. I know I was when I went for hearing for the same thing 😅"

Wollie Mollie said:

"Staff should be given a set amount of popcorn per shift... really, it's just popcorn"

Lesego Tsatseng Rantsho VI added:

"Even the braai master tastes the meat for readiness."

Isaac Jordaan joked:

"One kernel of popcorn is already worth R700"

Aie Cruickshank commented:

"If Ster-Kinekor treats staff like this... stop going to their movies. Movies are all free on the net anyways."

Mzolisi KaXengxe noted:

"It's good when an employee secures his or her employment, that sanction was harsh, not proportional to the alleged offence."

Cassio De Nova asked:

"How can you expect people not to eat popcorn? 🤣"

Other Briefly News stories on workplace dismissals

• A young South African man took to TikTok to share the raw emotional aftermath of losing his job, explaining how his future plans and financial stability were derailed in an instant.
• Asamkelo (@asamkelovellem) touched South Africans on TikTok after documenting her final day and emotional goodbye to colleagues following her dismissal from one of South Africa’s major supermarket retail chains.
• A young South African woman ignited outrage on social media after exposing the toxic workplace culture that led to her abrupt termination from the company.

Source: Briefly News