Banking giant Citibank has won a legal battle in the United Kingdom after sacking an employee for claiming expenses for sandwiches and coffee for his partner during a business trip and then lying about it. According to the BBC, former financial analyst Szabolcs Fekete had sued the bank for unfair dismissal after being fired last year for gross misconduct over the expenses claim. He initially said that he had consumed the two sandwiches, two pasta dishes, and two coffees by himself during a business trip to Amsterdam, however, later acknowledged that his partner had shared some of the food.
According to the BBC, Mr Fekete, who worked at Citibank for seven years, had travelled to Amsterdam for work between 3 and 5 July in 2022. On returning to London, he filed an expense claim for food and drink which believed was covered by his company's daily allowance. However, the supervisor he submitted his claim to asked him whether he had consumed all the food he was seeking reimbursement for.
In an email exchange with his manager, the Citibank employee said that he had "checked the receipt and did not see anything out of order...I was on a business trip by myself and... I had 2 coffees as they were very small".
In response, the Citibank manager said that receipt "appears to have two sandwiches, two coffees, and another drink . . . Are you advising that this was all consumed by you?"
To this, Mr Fekete explained, "On that day I skipped breakfast and only had 1 coffee in the morning. For lunch I had 1 sandwich with a drink and 1 coffee in the restaurant, and took another coffee back to the office with me and had the second sandwich in the afternoon... which also served as my dinner."
"All my expenses are within the 100 euros daily allowance. Could you please outline what your concern is as I don't think I have to justify my eating habits to this extent," he further told his manager.
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The bank, on the other hand, stated that its query was not about the amount but if the claim breached its expense management policy, which states that spousal travel and meals are not reimbursed. It also questioned whether he had shared two dinners of pesto pasta and pasta Bolognese with his partner. But Mr Fekete said that this was not the case.
However, he later admitted that he had shared the food, which he expensed to his employer, with his partner. He also claimed that he was having personal difficulties following the death of his grandmother, had taken six weeks of medical leave and was on strong medication when he replied to the emails.
However, Citibank ultimately dismissed Mr Fekete. Employment Judge Illing concluded that his dismissal was fair as Mr Fekete was not initially honest about the misclaimed expense.
"I have found that this case is not about the sums of money involved. This case is about the filing of the expense claim and the conduct of the claimant thereafter," he said.
"It is significant that the claimant did not make a full and frank disclosure at the first opportunity and that he did not answer questions directly," the judge added.
"We are pleased with the decision," a Citibank spokesperson said in response to the judgement.
