Salesman Daniel Jones has been given the boot by sportswear giants Nike for trying to sell some of his own – old trainers.
Daniel, 23, posted a message on Facebook when his mum asked him to clear out his bedroom wardrobe.
He advertised five pairs of Nike sports shoes he had accumulated during three-and-a-half years working at the company’s flagship Oxford Street store.
He bought two pairs himself like any customer, had another two pairs at a discounted price and got the fifth pair for free.
Daniel says he would have accepted around £200 for all five pairs and insists he was only trying to earn a bit of money and not deliberately cash in on his job.
But within days of his message appearing on his Facebook page he was hauled in by bosses and accused of gross misconduct.
Daniel was suspended on the spot from his part-time £8,000-a-year job and sent home to Essex to await his fate.
He then got a letter from the company telling him he had been sacked.
Daniel said: “All I was doing was clearing out my wardrobe because my parents were going on about it.
“I thought I’ll just stick the trainers on Facebook along with a lot of other clutter to see if anyone of my close friend wanted to buy them.
“Most of them are several years’ old but Nike accused me of trying to make a profit out of their business.
“They told me I wasn’t allowed to advertise their stuff but I was only having a clear-out like anyone else.”
Daniel was granted an appeal hearing against his sacking but Nike refused to change their mind.
He added: “They told me it didn’t matter if I’d made a penny or a thousand pounds out of the sale – it was still a breach of company policy.
“I cooperated with them and removed all existence of my posts to friends on Facebook as soon as I was made aware of my mistake, but yet they still sacked me.
“The fact I still had the intention to sell means I breached their rule book.
“The whole nonsense has been so distressing, I’ve had trouble sleeping.
“It wasn’t premeditated and I was one of their best salesmen with an exemplary record, yet I’m kicked out without any warning.”
Daniel has now contacted a solicitor and ACAS and is considering further action for unfair dismissal.
A Nike spokesman said: “This employee was dismissed from Niketown London on the grounds of gross misconduct.
“The Nike Employee Handbook states that the re-selling of discounted Nike goods by employees at a profit is considered gross misconduct.
“All Nike UK employees are required to read the handbook and sign a declaration that they have read it and he stated that he had read it and also signed the declaration form.”
