Ford electrician fired Kurt Kromm after a $1.95 cookie charge at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, then later offered him his job back after finding the payment. The 60-year-old UAW member says he was marched out by security after a Saturday shift when his blood sugar dropped around 3:30 a.m.
Kromm had worked for Ford for 11 years. He said he went to the break room, tried one Aramark self-checkout kiosk, saw a failed transaction, then paid at a second kiosk, ate the Grandma's cookie and returned to work.
Kurt Kromm bank record
A week later, he said he was taken to the labor office and told, “they got you on video stealing a cookie.” Kromm said his bank statement later showed the $1.95 had been charged and paid. After he sent notarized bank statements, Ford later confirmed the payment with Aramark and offered him his job back.
Ford cut Kromm roughly $28,000 in back pay for five lost weeks. He said, “First you tell me I'm a thief and then you tell me I'm a liar.”
Ford and Aramark kiosks
The dispute turned on a kiosk system that could show one failed attempt and a later successful charge without a worker seeing the first transaction settle. That left Kromm facing discipline over a purchase he said had already cleared. The case also comes after other workers at the plant were canned over a $2 drink, while the kiosks have been described as notorious for eating payments.
Ford’s spokeswoman said the company had “times when we look into things and realize it could have been handled different.” The company reportedly agreed to change its policy to suspend workers over suspicious kiosk activity instead of firing them outright.
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kromm declined the return offer and took a new job back in his hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin. For workers using the kiosks, the practical shift is simple: a disputed transaction can no longer be treated the same way under the changed policy, and a suspended worker gets a chance to sort out the charge before losing the job.
