A Citigroup worker’s wrongful dismissal claim was dismissed this week after the worker was fired from the bank for lying about dining expenses on a piece trip.
Szabolcs Fekete, an analyst who worked for Citi in London, was fired after ordering two sandwiches, two coffees, and two orders of pasta during an organization trip to Amsterdam in July 2022 and lied by claiming each orders were for him — however the food was actually for himself and his partner.
“I used to be on the business trip by myself, and I had [two] coffees as they were very small,” Fekete reportedly wrote in an email after his manager questioned his expenses. “I do not think I even have to justify my eating habits to this extent.”
Citi then fired Fekete after he admitted to sharing the meals together with his partner because the bank’s expense policy states that every one employees must “list attendees whose meals they submit for reimbursement,” also noting that employees usually are not allowed to expense meals for workers’ partners.
Fekete then sued following his termination, however the case was dismissed by Employment Judge Caroline Illing, who said that Citi “requires a commitment to honesty from its employees” and that the corporate was justified in its termination of Fekete’s employment.
“I even have accepted that the expense report can have been submitted in error,” the judge reportedly said. “Nevertheless, I’m satisfied that a dismissal in relation to the misrepresentation allegation alone would fall inside the band of an inexpensive response by an inexpensive employer.”
A Citibank representative told USA Today that the bank was “pleased with the choice” by the judge.
Citigroup was down slightly below 6.7% in a one-year period as of Tuesday afternoon.