Ford offered veteran employee Kurt Kromm his job back at its Kentucky truck plant after an internal review found that a $1.95 snack he had been accused of stealing had actually been paid for.
The company said Kromm would receive full compensation, but he refused to return to work.
Kurt Kromm
(Photo: Screenshot from daryl_wizinsky’s Instagram account)
Kromm eventually received two checks totaling $28,000 for about five weeks of lost wages, less than the $33,000 he said he had been told to expect, according to the Miami Herald.
The incident began during a night shift on May 9, when Kromm bought a chocolate chip cookie at the plant cafeteria. He said he purchased it after feeling dizzy because of low blood sugar.
A payment terminal later appeared to show that the transaction had failed, leading to his dismissal.
A week later, Kromm was summoned by two managers, accused of failing to pay for the snack and escorted off the site without being allowed to collect his personal belongings.
On May 20, Kromm shared screenshots from his debit card account, but Ford demanded notarized bank records. The company then contacted the cafeteria operator, and only on June 12 did it receive confirmation that the cookie had in fact been purchased and paid for.
Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch responded to the case, saying: “We don’t talk about individual cases, but there are times when we look into things and realize they could have been handled differently. When that happens, we try to make it right. We value our employees and want to be as fair as possible.”
Kromm, 60, had worked at the Louisville facility for 11 years. He said the self-checkout kiosk initially declined the charge before accepting it on a second attempt.
He said that in 2025 he worked an average of 60 hours a week and earned more than $200,000 a year.
Kromm questioned why he would risk his job over a cheap snack.
“I spent $1,200 last year in the cafeteria, mostly on Diet Coke,” he said.