A cleaner at a top London law firm is suing after she was fired for eating a tuna sandwich left in a conference room, according to reports.
roll on friday, The legal news site reported that cleaner Gabriela Rodriguez was fired from her employer, private contractor Total Clean, just before Christmas 2023.
Rodriguez, a single mother from Ecuador, was fired after she complained to law firm Devonshires Solicitors that Rodriguez ate a tuna sandwich from British supermarket chain Tesco, worth about $1.90. .
According to RollOnFriday, the sandwich in question was left behind after a meeting at a 235-person lawyer’s office and was scheduled to be thrown away.
A spokesperson for Devonshire Solicitors told the Post that the firm has not filed “formal charges” against Rodriguez and is “not seeking any action against her.”
A spokesperson for the law firm added: “Total Clean conducted its own investigation and the decision to terminate Gabriela was made without any input or influence from Devonshire.”
Devonshires also said it had “not previously objected to Mr. Gabriela attending or working on our premises should Total Clean’s position change.”
Mr Rodriguez reportedly worked at Devonshires for two years before being made redundant.
But Total Clean claimed Rodriguez committed the theft by eating a piece of a tuna sandwich.
After news of Rodriguez’s firing broke, United Voices of the World union members stormed his Devonshire office with 100 cans of tuna, 300 hand-rolled sandwiches, heart-shaped balloons and love letters to Rodriguez. They reportedly gathered outside. Guardian.
Rodriguez’s supporters have also sued Devonshires directly for her termination, but the law firm said it “has shown no good faith and has refused to support Gabriella’s lawsuit.”
The Guardian reported that Rodriguez himself subsequently protested the decision, claiming that he was fired due to indirect racial discrimination.
Petros Elia, general secretary of the UVW, which represents a large number of UK-based cleaners, most of whom are migrant workers, told the magazine: “Because we cleaned their mess, “That doesn’t mean they can treat us like dirt.”
“Cleaning workers are routinely fired for discriminatory reasons like this every day across the country, and we say that many are treated “like the dirt they clean.” Gabriela is one of them. We will speak out and stand together to fight against any employer, even a large and powerful company like Devonshires Solicitors. ”
UVW also claimed that Devonshires would not have filed a complaint with Total Clean, which ultimately led to her termination, had Rodriguez not been from Latin America and had limited English, the Guardian reported. reported.
The Post has reached out to Total Clean and UVW for comment.
