A man has been awarded €20,000 by the Employments Appeal Tribunal after being fired from his job for 'stealing' food worth €1. Carl Meade had been working in Cineworld Cinema in Dublin for three years when he bought a hotdog and a bag of sweets from the screen's shop. As employees are entitled to a 40% discount on such items, he followed the protocol of signing the back of the receipt for the goods and placed it in the till. However, the cinema's operations manager later said that he realised though "CCTV and an examination of paperwork" that Meade had paid for a regular hotdog, rather than the (more expensive) large hotdog that he had received. He also paid for a packet of wine gums, rather than Malteasers, with the total underpayment coming to €1. Meade was fired from his position as a result of the discrepancy but took the case to the Tribunal, saying that it was an honest mistake as he not read the receipt before signing it. He admitted it while this was a breach of the staff discount policy, he was unaware of the serious implications until he was confronted with it during the subsequent disciplinary process. The Tribunal today found in his favour, judging that Mr Meade was unfairly dismissed and awarding him €20,000 in damages.