A manager at a Tim Horton’s shop in London, Ontario fired Nicole Lilliman, a cashier, for giving a $0.17 Timbit to a toddler. She claimed that the reason she did this was due to the fact that she wanted to satisfy the baby, who was pointing to the Timbits and making noises. The main ethical issue in this situation is the degree of compassion that a company should provide to its employees. For many companies, such as Tim Horton’s (TH), the number one goal is to make a profit. By giving away ONE free Timbit, TH only loses $0.17, but what happens when this situation sets precedence for other people to ask for free Timbits? Should TH now start handing out Timbits to every crying toddler that comes into the store? If yes, then TH will be losing a lot more than $0.17. Although by firing employees that endorse giving away free food effectively prevent issues like this from happening, TH should have been fairer to the cashier. Under the subtitle of “We are Fair and Ethical” in TH’s “Standards of Business Practice” document, the company claims that they treat co-workers with “fairness, compassion, and loyalty”. Personally, I think by firing that cashier, TH just violated their own ethical standards. Hence, to practice better business ethics, I think TH should have simply given the cashier a warning.
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