A railway worker who fished sausage rolls out of a bin and served them to first-class passengers has lost his unfair dismissal case after claiming he'd simply "gone too far for the customer".
Peter Duffy worked for London North Eastern Railway (LNER) when the bizarre incident took place on May 7, 2023, aboard a service leaving York.
He was accused of retrieving sausage rolls from the bin, reheating them, and having a colleague deliver them to unsuspecting customers.
LNER sacked Mr Duffy for gross misconduct, but he brought claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination to a Newcastle tribunal.
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The whole thing came to light thanks to a sharp-eyed colleague, who heard "lots of laughing" from the kitchen and made a complaint when previously discarded sausage rolls were no longer in the bin.
"Myself and a host from standard class had been in the kitchen to get ourselves food when the host who was cooking told us the sausage rolls had just gone in the bin," they explained.
Minutes later, sausage rolls were taken out to Coach K for the first class passengers.
CCTV footage appeared to back up the complaint, showing Mr Duffy taking food from the bin while his colleague watched, then plating and reheating it before it was served.
An LNER worker who fished sausage rolls out of a bin and served them to first-class passengers has lost his unfair dismissal case despite claiming he'd simply 'gone too far for the customer'
|GETTY
Both workers were suspended while LNER investigated the potential breach of food hygiene standards.
At an investigatory meeting ten days later, Mr Duffy insisted he was "a person who goes over and beyond for the customer".
"I clearly took them out as there were none left for people in first class, but they were wrapped in foil," he said.
"We had totally run out. I have just gone too far for the customer in my mind."
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Peter Duffy is said to have grabbed the sausage rolls from the bin and given them to a colleague to hand out to first-class customers
|GETTY
His colleague offered a rather different explanation for all that kitchen laughter, instead claiming they were giggling because she had passed wind.
The tribunal found her evidence unreliable and likely self-serving.
Mr Duffy was found guilty of gross misconduct and lost his job in July 2023.
He took his case to a Newcastle tribunal in August 2025, claiming unfair dismissal and discrimination.
Mr Duffy said he suffered from anxiety and depression and was on medication at the time, adding he'd been stressed with work.
His union representative raised another defence, stating that Mr Duffy "had suffered from a recognised condition that day, known as transient global amnesia" – a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.
But the tribunal wasn't convinced. In reasons published on Wednesday supporting the judgment, the judge ruled that LNER had acted reasonably in deciding to dismiss Mr Duffy.
The tribunal also found that his actions were not something that arose as a consequence of his disability.
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