A Supervalu employee, fired last July for pilfering candy bars and sport drinks from the company's Hopkins warehouse, got his job back after an arbitrator ruled this month that a three-month unpaid suspension was more appropriate.
John Bjork was also told to pay back the value of the items, which amounted to more than $1,000 over a two-year period. Bjork's job was to keep a dock area tidy. The dock receives damaged or outdated merchandise returned from stores. The merchandise is scanned for credit. Some of the merchandise is sent back to vendors; the rest is destroyed according to vendors' instructions. Bjork admitted taking "2-3 candy bars a week … and a sports drink almost every night" from a hidden bin stocked by another employee. Bjork testified that he didn't consider it stealing because it was common practice among other employees and supervisors. Read the full decision here.
