Snack Bar Employee Fired for Cursing Out Boss Awarded 10,000 Euros

A snack bar employee who was fired on the spot after calling her boss a curse word has been awarded more than 10,000 euros in compensation. The court ruled that dismissal was too harsh a punishment for what was deemed a one-time emotional outburst. The employee, born in 2000, had worked at the snack bar since July 2018 with an impeccable record. The trouble started on November 14 when, instead of helping clean up, she was sitting in the office sending WhatsApp messages. The owner confronted her, and the woman reacted aggressively. She left the premises, loudly cursing the owner out in front of other colleagues and saying, "Figure it out yourself, I'm out of here." The owner viewed this as an undermining of her authority and sent a letter on Monday, November 17, firing the woman effective immediately. The employee contested the dismissal in court. The subdistrict judge in Bergen op Zoom ruled that while the swearing was inappropriate, it was a single emotional incident that did not warrant termination. The woman is now entitled to over 10,000 euros in damages and severance - significantly more than her monthly gross salary of 1,499 euros, though less than what she had originally demanded.