A single mother who worked as a cleaner for a law firm has hit back after claiming she was wrongfully fired for eating a leftover low-cost sandwich at her workplace, sparking controversy and garnering support from workers’ unions.

39-year-old Gabriela Rodriguez from Ecuador is currently suing a city law firm that earns £ 46 million ($ 58 million) a year after she alleged that she had been sacked for eating a leftover tuna sandwich that was destined for trash.

Gabriela reportedly launched the claim after she worked for an agency that was contracted to London corporate law firm Devonshires, UK.

Representatives of the United Voices of the World, which is a union that supports migrant workers, said she was terminated just before Christmas, the Daily Mail reported.

“Theft” was said to have been the cause of Gabriela’s dismissal from her £13 ($16)-an-hour job. The Ecuadorian worker claimed the leftover sandwich, which she had been accused of stealing, had been due to be thrown away after a meeting.

The law firm had reportedly contacted Gabriela’s company, Total Clean, to complain that leftover sandwiches were not being returned. She was consequently sacked for taking “client property…without authority or reasonable excuse,” Gabriela told The Sun.

A single mom who worked as a cleaner is suing after claiming she was fired for eating a leftover low-cost tuna sandwich at her job

Image credits: topntp26/Freepik

As the former cleaner is now suing for unfair dismissal, the United Voices of the World union has taken to a social media campaign to reveal the value of the sandwich in question – which some sources claimed contained egg and not tuna – cost no more than £1.50 ($1.90).

“300 tuna sandwiches and 100 cans of tuna. That’s what we brought to city law firm, Devonshires Solicitors, to protest the sacking of an outsourced migrant cleaner and UVW member, sacked for eating a £1.50 Tesco tuna sandwich left over from a lawyers meeting and due to be chucked in the bin!” the union wrote in a new post uploaded on Monday (February 19) on Facebook.

The union displayed its members protesting in honor of Gabriela in front of the law firm in question and further captioned the post: “Gabriela was summarily sacked after 2 years on the job just before Christmas by the contractor, Total Clean.”

It continued: “On Valentine’s Day, we demanded that Gabriela – an Ecuadorian single mother – [be] reinstated and compensated for this unfair and inhumane treatment.

“We left the sandwiches with reception and demanded a meeting with management, which was agreed to by the CEO and a partner of the firm.

“Then we danced and sang and bowled with tuna cans in a joyous demand for justice.”

39-year-old Gabriela Rodriguez from Ecuador moved to the UK from Spain a decade ago with her 10-year-old child Nicole

Image credits: United Voices of the World the union

In an initial Facebook post published on February 10, the union shared pictures of its members making banners in solidarity with Gabriela. The group wrote in the caption: “Quick placard and banner-making session today in preparation for our action next week in solidarity with Gabriela.

“Gabriela is an Ecuadorian single mother who, after 2 years cleaning the offices of a corporate law firm, was summarily sacked just before Christmas on grounds of “theft” – the “theft” in question being a £1.50 Tesco tuna sandwich that she ate [that] was left over from a lawyers meeting and was due to be discarded.

“Sacking cleaners on ridiculous grounds like this – treating them like the dirt they clean – is not uncommon though [it] is always outrageous, and in UVW, we always fight back.

“We are taking the case to court, but that takes time, and justice delayed is justice denied, so in the meantime, we’ll be doing what we do best and fighting back through direct action.”

Gabriela claimed the leftover sandwich which she had been accused of stealing had been was due to be thrown away after a meeting

Image credits: unitedvoicesoftheworld

Gabriela’s colleagues and the union have subsequently demonstrated outside the central London HQ of solicitors Devonshires, where top lawyers reportedly earn £1.68 million ($2 million) a year, with cans of tuna and the banners saying: “Sacked for a sandwich?” and “We are not the dirt we clean.”

One of the union’s spokespersons told the Daily Mail on Monday (February 19): “Gabriela understood she was also allowed to eat this food.

“It is so incredibly far beyond the realms of reasonableness and comprehension to dismiss an employee for eating a leftover tuna and cucumber sandwich.

“We now understand that the privilege of eating leftover sandwiches perhaps does not extend to the outsourced migrant workforce in the building.”

Total Clean boss, Graham Petersen, who employed Gabriela to clean at a law firm, sent her the following letter:

Image credits: Dailymail

Gabriela has since opened up about the incident, revealing how she had been left in tears and depressed.

The former Total Clean worker, who moved to the UK from Spain a decade ago with her 10-year-old child Nicole, told the Daily Mail: “I’m still so angry about the way I’ve been treated.

“I’ve been accused of theft when all I did was eat a small sandwich that was probably going to end up in the bin.

“I put it in the fridge to have after my shift ended because the sandwiches were left in the kitchen for other staff when ground-floor meetings finished, and I understood I had the right to eat it as someone who worked in the building.

“There must have been around five trays with left-over food, including crisps and sandwiches, and I only took one small one with tuna and cucumber inside.”

Gabriela’s colleagues demonstrated outside the central London HQ of solicitors Devonshires, where she had eaten the sandwich

Image credits: United Voices of the World the union

The hard-working mom indicated that it was approximately 2:30 pm when most people would have already finished their lunches, and any remaining food, including the sandwich in question and others on the trays, would likely have been thrown away.

“The way they got rid of me was horrible,” she admitted.

The disconcerted mother continued: “A week went by without anyone saying anything, and then, about 15 minutes before the end of my shift, when I was at the Devonshires building, a Total Clean manager and the company’s Human Resources manager came in and told me I was being suspended without pay and had to hand in my pass and leave immediately.

“They told me it was because I had taken a sandwich without permission, and I couldn’t believe it.

“I went back home, and I spent the rest of the day in a state of total shock. I felt so upset and offended.

“There were a lot of tears and days when I had no appetite. That and the worry of not knowing how I’d cope financially because I’m a single mum bringing up a young daughter on just the one salary.”

“It is […] beyond […] reasonableness […] to dismiss an employee for eating a leftover tuna and cucumber sandwich,” Gabriela’s union said

Image credits: United Voices of the World The Union

As per the Daily Mail, Total Clean boss Graham Petersen confirmed Gabriela’s sacking following an appeal she initially made and a disciplinary hearing held over Zoom after the sandwich incident nine days earlier, on November 23, 2023.

In a letter, Graham stated: “At the hearing, your explanation was that you found a sandwich in the kitchen near the end of your shift and took it without a second thought.

“You stated that, previously, the client had left food in the kitchen and offered it out, so you thought it was fine.

“I considered your explanation to be unsatisfactory because you confirmed that no one had offered you the food in the kitchen but decided to take it anyway.

“I have decided that your conduct has resulted in a fundamental breach of your contractual terms, which irrevocably destroys the trust and confidence necessary to continue the employment relationship.”

Gabriela went on to tell the British tabloid: “No one else was in the kitchen at the time, and no one said anything to me, so I’m still not sure if I’ve been filmed on CCTV.

“Although Devonshires are now saying they didn’t complain and are happy to have me back on their premises, the Total Clean manager who came to the building just before my shift ended and told me to hand in my pass said it was because the building manager from the law firm had complained and accused me of stealing a sandwich.

“It was mortifying for me to be accused of theft. I consider my treatment [to be] unfair and denigrating.

“I’m a very conscientious person who’s always tried to do their job to the highest standards possible, and I’d never had any previous complaints from anyone I’d worked with.”

“The way they got rid of me was horrible,” Gabriela said

 

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A post shared by UVW Union (@unitedvoicesoftheworld)

Gabriela revealed that out of the £1,700 ($2,151) she earned after taxes while working as a subcontractor at Total Clean and as a supervisor at Devonshires and Stradivarius, around £1,000 ($1,265) went towards paying the rent for the one-bedroom flat she shares with her daughter.

She revealed: “Getting by each month on the rest of my salary with a young child to look after was never easy, and I had to fall back on the little savings I had and help from family when I was fired.

“It was just before Christmas, and I started to panic about what I’d do and how I’d cope.

“Luckily, I got good references from people I’ve met and worked with in the years I’ve been living in the UK, and I’ve now got a new job as a full-time production worker in a clothes factory and am very happy there.

“I wouldn’t want to return to Total Clean even if they did admit they were wrong and offer[ed] me my job back.

“I received the letter Graham Petersen sent me confirming my dismissal just after I’d finished my lunch, and the words and the tone of it caused me indigestion.

“I’m no thief, and I’m no trade union militant, which is the other thing I’ve been called.

“I’m an honest single mum trying her best to earn a decent living doing what I consider to be very honorable professions.

“I’m happy my union is helping me fight my dismissal from Total Clean. Too many people say nothing and put up with mistreatment out of fear.

“Enough is enough. I’m talking out now and am refusing to stay silent because I did nothing wrong.”

Gabriela’s tuna sandwich incident sparked divided reactions on social media

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