LONDON FREE PRESS
Thursday, May 8, 2008
By JENNIFER O'BRIEN
You can take candy from a baby, but you can't give one a Timbit -- not for free, anyway.
A single London mother of four is out of her Tim Hortons job, fired for giving away one of the 16-cent blobs of fried dough to a tot who came in with a regular customer. "I have been fired for giving a baby a Timbit," Nicole Lilliman, 27, said yesterday.
"It was just out of my heart -- she was pointing and going 'ah, ah. . .' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy."
Lilliman, who has worked at the store on Base Line and Wharncliffe roads for three years, said she thought little of the incident since Timbits are often doled out to dogs and children.
She said the baby was about 11 months old, and she gave her the treat to quieten her, since her mom -- a Tims' regular -- had been "having a bad day."
"I could see (the dismissal) if it was a sandwich or something," Lilliman said, still in her uniform after being fired yesterday. "But it was a Timbit."
She'd forgotten about the Monday-morning incident when she was called into the office yesterday. Three managers greeted her, saying she had been caught on video, giving free food to a child.
"They said, 'Remember, Monday you gave out a free Timbit,' " she said. "I had to think, then I was like, 'Oh yeah,' and I smiled because I thought I'd get a warning."
Instead, she was fired for theft and told to sign the accusation before leaving.
"I was crying. I was like, 'I'm a single mom with four kids and you are going to put this on my record?' You should bring all the staff in here and fire them all and yourselves, too. People give out Timbits to dogs in the drive-through all the time."
Giving food away free is against the rules, said Tim Hortons district manager Nicole Mitchell.
"Employees aren't allowed to give out free products and that's the bottom line," she said. "She gave out free product and it doesn't matter if it is a Timbit or a coffee or a doughnut or 10 sandwiches or what."
The Timbits given to pets, Mitchell added, are usually "day-old and recycled."
"(Lilliman) admitted it. She signed the accusation and completely admitted it and everything has been documented," said Mitchell.
Mitchell said there have been other problems with the employee, but Lilliman said nothing has been brought to her attention and she doesn't know of any writeups.
"It is not easy to get up at 6 a.m. and go to work, but I'm always there," she said.
"I need this job. I know there is a policy, but every person in the world gives out free Timbits once in a while."
Contact.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
By JENNIFER O'BRIEN
You can take candy from a baby, but you can't give one a Timbit -- not for free, anyway.
A single London mother of four is out of her Tim Hortons job, fired for giving away one of the 16-cent blobs of fried dough to a tot who came in with a regular customer. "I have been fired for giving a baby a Timbit," Nicole Lilliman, 27, said yesterday.
"It was just out of my heart -- she was pointing and going 'ah, ah. . .' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy."
Lilliman, who has worked at the store on Base Line and Wharncliffe roads for three years, said she thought little of the incident since Timbits are often doled out to dogs and children.
She said the baby was about 11 months old, and she gave her the treat to quieten her, since her mom -- a Tims' regular -- had been "having a bad day."
"I could see (the dismissal) if it was a sandwich or something," Lilliman said, still in her uniform after being fired yesterday. "But it was a Timbit."
She'd forgotten about the Monday-morning incident when she was called into the office yesterday. Three managers greeted her, saying she had been caught on video, giving free food to a child.
"They said, 'Remember, Monday you gave out a free Timbit,' " she said. "I had to think, then I was like, 'Oh yeah,' and I smiled because I thought I'd get a warning."
Instead, she was fired for theft and told to sign the accusation before leaving.
"I was crying. I was like, 'I'm a single mom with four kids and you are going to put this on my record?' You should bring all the staff in here and fire them all and yourselves, too. People give out Timbits to dogs in the drive-through all the time."
Giving food away free is against the rules, said Tim Hortons district manager Nicole Mitchell.
"Employees aren't allowed to give out free products and that's the bottom line," she said. "She gave out free product and it doesn't matter if it is a Timbit or a coffee or a doughnut or 10 sandwiches or what."
The Timbits given to pets, Mitchell added, are usually "day-old and recycled."
"(Lilliman) admitted it. She signed the accusation and completely admitted it and everything has been documented," said Mitchell.
Mitchell said there have been other problems with the employee, but Lilliman said nothing has been brought to her attention and she doesn't know of any writeups.
"It is not easy to get up at 6 a.m. and go to work, but I'm always there," she said.
"I need this job. I know there is a policy, but every person in the world gives out free Timbits once in a while."
Contact.
