Simon Tonekham’s Blog

I stumbled watching a news report yesterday when one lady who worked for Tim Hortons got fired for giving away a timbit to a customer - a baby-in-arms with a mother. Nicole Lilliman, a 27-year-old single mother of four children was working at a London, Ontario-area Tim Hortons the other day and she served a baby who was with her mother a timbit. Nicole did not realized that her actions was caught on video surveillance . It wasn’t a day after until the manager of the Tim Horton’s franchise ask her to see what she had done. As a result, she was fired.

It really saddens me that her ex-manager has gone her too far. She was crying and many bloggers - including myself looked into a second opinion of that (one user wrote one, while the other one wrote another in their own perspectives). The incident was spreading like wildfire, giving a broad media attention. The craze goes as far as Texas, New York State, California and so on….even China! As a result of the case, she was later rehired by the company.

Nicole Lilliman stated in an interview: “It was just out of my heart, she (the toddler) was pointing and going ‘ah, ah…’ I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy,”

For those foreigners out there who don’t know what a timbit is, they are tiny donut holes and they come in a wide range of flavours including chocolate, dutchie cream, strawberry filled and so on. A single lousy timbit cost about $0.16CDN (sixteen cents) and many customers opt in to buy in boxes of 10, 20 or even 40 timbits.

Tim Hortons later issued a statement and apologizes to Nicole Lilliman for her ordeal:

“Unfortunately the action of the manager of this location was not appropriate, nor grounds for dismissal,” a statement from Tim Hortons said Thursday. “With an apology from management, Ms. Lilliman has been rehired by the franchisee.”

As one song shows, “There’s a class for this” (in reference to a song by a band called Cute is What We Aim For).

Back to Nicole now and this is what she also state: “I just wasn’t happy with the whole thing, They said that I graciously took my job back, but I just took my job back. I need that paycheque in two weeks.”

With her ordreal over, she still works with Tim Hortons - but at another location in the London area - she took her duties working at the Drive Thru.

Good thing that Phreak615 wasn’t witnessing the action as it unfolded! To finish this blog off, I’m leaving you two music videos by my favourite band, Simple Plan. These music videos are “Your Love is a Lie” and “When I’m Gone”. The reason that I choosed “When I’m Gone” and this is especially dedicated to Nicole Lilliman and her ex-manager of the Tim Hortons (the place that where she formerly worked at) because the video is asking them, “You’re gonna miss me when i’m gone?” Enjoy the music videos.

Simple Plan - “When I’m Gone”:

Simple Plan - “Your Love is a Lie”:

References:

“Woman fired for giving 16-cent treat to toddler.” Thomson Reuters. 8 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCAN0836799020080508>.

” Fast food woman fired, excused for giving free doghnut.” Xinhua News Agency. 9 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/09/content_8134948.htm>

“Tim Hortons apologizes, rehires mom who gave away Timbit.” Canwest News Service. 8 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=aaf9eba6-3bf3-4aff-a5af-2720d6c92dec>

“Woman fired, rehired for giving baby free Timbit.” Toronto Sun. 8 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2008/05/08/5506961.html>

“Rehired Timbit mom needs the dough.” Toronto Star. 9 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/423225>

“Mom gets job back.” London Free Press. 9 May 2008. 9 May 2008 <http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2008/05/09/5515571-sun.html>