Ford worker fired over alleged cookie theft

A UAW member who worked 11 years at the Ford factory that builds the bestselling Super Duty pickup trucks in Louisville, Kentucky, was fired from his job by Ford Motor Co. over alleged non-payment for a $1.95 Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, according to exclusive interviews with Shifting Gears.

“My direct supervisor came to get me and said, ‘We need to go to the office.’ I asked, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ And we sat in the labor office for like half an hour, waiting. Then the union bargainer came in. He says, ‘This is bad’ And I’m, like, ‘Bad? I haven’t done anything.’ The bargainer says, ‘They’re going to terminate you. They got you on video stealing a cookie,’” recalled Kurt Kromm, 60, who averaged 60 hours a week at Ford in 2025.

“I earned over $200,000 last year. Why would I steal? I spent $1,200 last year in the canteen mainly on Diet Cokes,” said Kromm, who is diabetic.

The video captured a red screen on the payment kiosk rather than a green check mark that reflects payment, Kromm said. “I said there are two kiosks in the break room. It either went through on that one or the other one.”

Over the past seven weeks, Kromm has been accused of stealing, escorted out of the factory by security, told that his paperwork proving innocence required a notary signature, told his case was under review by Ford and then offered his job back working his original shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Kromm found work elsewhere with a pay raise and closer to home.

But he is angry about the unfairness of it all. “I’m thinking, this is the way my career at Ford Motor is going to end? There’s no way I’m coming back. First you tell me I’m a thief and then you tell me I’m a liar for saying I didn’t steal. They were so confident I’d stolen. And then I look in my checking account statement and the $1.95 is frickin’ there.”

Shifting Gears reached out to Ford on Thursday, June 25, to ask whether the automaker would be reviewing its protocol for firing, or investigating the integrity of Aramark payment kiosks, false accusations of theft or how a longtime employee can get fired over a cookie. Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch said, “We don’t talk about individual cases, but there are times when we look into things and realize it could have been handled differently. When that happens, we try to rectify it. We value our employees and want to be as fair as possible.”

The Kentucky Truck Plant — which employs more than 8,000 workers who build the Super Duty, Ford Expedition SUV and Lincoln Navigator SUV — is a financial powerhouse that generated $25 billion a year in revenue in 2023.

Kromm is sharing his story because he can’t believe a global corporation would make a major firing decision of a longtime employee without warning or discussion.

“I do my job. I show up to work every day,” he said. “Just before I got let go, they had a Friday where 500 people didn’t come to work. It was nice outside. People don’t show up. They had to shut down the SUV line just to run Super Duty.”

In the labor office inside the factory that day, the UAW bargainer urged Kromm to say he was sorry, Kromm said. He refused to apologize because he wanted to confirm he had not paid. He believed he did.

Shifting Gears reached out to three UAW communications people plus UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson by phone, text and email on Thursday, June 25, seeking explanation or comment. No one responded.

Mike Kerr from the UAW International in Detroit later told Kromm that Ford would change its policy to suspend rather than fire workers in response to suspicious payment kiosk activity, Kromm said. “It’s a little better but the whole thing is ridiculous.”

On Saturday, May 9, around 3:30 a.m., Kromm felt light-headed and realized he needed something to counter low blood sugar. So he attempted to purchase a cookie from the payment kiosk. He swiped his debit card and the machine signaled a failure to process the transaction. So Kromm went to another kiosk and swiped payment, then ate his cookie.

On Saturday, May 16, a Ford supervisor called Kromm into the office and informed Kromm he was fired for non-payment. He was escorted out of the factory by security. He was not allowed to take his tools. Someone went and picked up his personal laptop off his desk so it wouldn’t be left behind. He exited the building about an hour after his shift would have ended.

This is what happened next, according to interviews and documents reviewed by Shifting Gears:

• On Wednesday, May 20, Kromm sent screenshots of his debit card transaction payment to Ford and his union representative.

• On Thursday, June 4, Mike Kerr from the UAW International office contacted Kromm to say Ford needed copies of the bank statements notarized.

• On Friday, June 12, Kerr informed Kromm that Ford had contacted Aramark, the company that maintains the payment kiosk, to confirm that Kromm actually did pay for the cookie. Ford would be contacting Kromm about returning to work.

• On Wednesday, June 17, Ford notified Kromm he would be “returned to work” on June 22.

• On Thursday, June 18, UAW Local 862 skilled trades chairman Mike Dunn called Kromm to say he would be “made whole” for five weeks of lost wages. Then on Thursday, June 25, he received two checks totaling $28,000 but less than the $33,000 he was told by the UAW that he would be getting.

  

“I thought this all was a joke, at first,” Kromm told Shifting Gears.

“They said they had zero tolerance for theft, and that this has happened to five people they’ve had to terminate. I looked at my rep and said, ‘Really? Are you shitting me?’” Kromm said. “I said, ‘If you wanted to get rid of me, you could’ve just asked. I’d quit. Why are you doing this over a cookie?”

He frequently worked up to seven days a week, pulling wires, hooking up equipment, fixing robots and automated equipment, running construction, moving factory equipment. He worked in the paint shop, body shop and final assembly.

In addition, Kromm is a member of the plant’s Emergency Rescue Team. Ford sent him to train in Detroit and purchased his helmet and gear, which now sit abandoned in a locker. “I’m well trained on how to save people. Ford spent a lot of money on me.”

Kromm, the son of a Sinclair gas station owner who has always loved cars, also has a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Carthage College in Kenosha and an advanced degree in mediation from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This week, he heads back to the factory in Louisville to reclaim thousands of dollars worth of his personal tools. After 40 years as a journeyman electrician, he is member of both the UAW Local 862 in Louisville and IBEW Local 369 in Louisville.

Kromm had been renting an apartment for 11 years in Louisville. His hometown is Kenosha, and he has moved everything back into the home he shares with his wife of 29 years, Karen Kromm, an electronic health record software trainer.

“Kurt was really proud to work at Ford,” she said, crying. “It’s sad he wasn’t supported by his union. He provides a screenshot of the payment and they don’t believe him? He got his job back because he fought and provided documentation. But to leave Louisville like this? We have relationships there. This has been really hard.”

Kurt Kromm said, “Even when I proved I was innocent, they wanted more.”

He went to the IBEW union hall and had a job within days.

There is an ongoing concern about the electronic payment system on the Aramark payment kiosk, factory workers told Shifting Gears. Items for purchase are displayed out in the open and employees pay through a self-checkout process similar to the supermarket.

“I know the machine malfunctioned. I swiped the debit card. The video showed payment didn’t go through,” Kromm said. “A payment went through at 3:38 a.m. Actually, I didn’t think anything of it because those machines failing happens all the time. When you go into that room, there’s food sitting out. People go up to pay and it doesn’t go through so they leave it there. The (payment) machine asks you to try and try again.”

Shifting Gears asked Aramark about the Kromm case in detail — how Aramark explains the theft allegation when documents prove otherwise, what will be done about concern that payment kiosk malfunctions may result in false accusations of theft and whether the company planned to investigate the issue.

Chris Collom, vice president of corporate communications at Aramark, told Shifting Gears on Thursday, June 25, “We fully cooperate with investigations of this nature. At the same time, we remain focused on providing convenient, flexible snack options that support our hardworking customers every day.”

To this day, Kromm cannot process the idea that his union rep urged him to apologize for something he didn’t do. “These people appease the company. I was at Chrysler for 12 years, and my building chairman Curt Wilson would’ve knocked someone upside the head and said, ‘This is absurd.’ But the (Ford) union kept saying, ‘People go back sooner and have better luck if they’re apologetic.’”

Normally, Kromm bought two Diet Cokes each shift at $3 apiece.

“Aramark sent videos to Ford,” Kromm said. “Aramark doesn’t know who people are, but Ford knows me.”

Kromm sounded emotional during an interview on Thursday, June 25. “This is extremely hard for me.”

After being fired, Kromm said he wrote directly to UAW President Shawn Fain and Vice President Laura Dickerson:

“I am trying to figure out the benefit for Ford in making such an arbitrary, capricious, and draconian decision … I feel confident I will be returned to work at some point but I am struggling to see any benefit for Ford in this action. Ford should instead get with Aramark and demand they keep their equipment in good order and working and then work to simply get the items paid for. Ford is also struggling to find good workers who show up for work and I have perfect attendance for the last 2 years and for nearly all of my 11 years at Ford even though I live in Wisconsin and drive 375 miles to work every two weeks. I also have a pile of these Ford coins they give employees for doing good work so this action is very surprising to me.”

Kromm said he also wrote to Mike Fitzsimmons, vice president of global labor at Ford, on Sunday, May 24. The executive initially emailed Kromm that Ford would look into what happened in the Gate 4 break room.

After Kromm was told to get his financial documents notarized, he wrote to Fitzsimmons again: “I contacted you hoping you would do the right thing and just bring me back to work when I showed the charge on my statement. You choose instead to call me a liar and question the validity of my documentation … This malicious and intentional assault on (my) character, morals, and integrity will not go unchallenged.”

Electrician Victoria Thomas, a 34-year Ford employee who worked with Kromm at Kentucky Truck, said, “He’s an excellent worker. He’s very attentive and very helpful. He’s very intelligent and he’ll address situations. He’s not afraid. Some people don’t like confrontation. I look at it like, if there’s something wrong, we address it.”

When she hit her 30th anniversary with the company, Ford didn’t immediately acknowledge the milestone. Kromm emailed Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time and touted Thomas’ work ethic and commitment. The plant manager came out the next day and announced there would be a celebration, Kromm told me.

“We had a girl who had 30 years in, a Black woman electrician. She was so proud to work at Ford. And nobody was giving an award or anything. She wondered if it was because she was Black or a woman,” Kromm said. “It’s not easy for women getting into the trades. We stand up for each other.”

Thomas told Shifting Gears, “No matter what, Kurt always had my back. I wanted him to come back here. My heart is so broken.”

She said glitches with the Aramark machine are well known among workers, and have even happened to her. “You’ll turn around and want your receipt and you can’t get one. It acts like it’s declining or won’t process and then it sometimes does.”

“I’d know it went through because my bank Navy Federal would show on the phone when I made a purchase. But the payment kiosk would say it’s not processed and asking me to scan my card again. People have even tried to reach out to Aramark to say, ‘The machine took my money,’” Thomas said. “I don’t want an issue so I avoid that room. I have friends who were terminated because they bought a $2 drink. Kurt was the only one who had documentation and he fought it.”

Workers at the plant told Shifting Gears they felt the union should be more assertive on this issue to protect other hourly employees. A UAW member at the Kentucky Truck Plant said, “They allowed a man to be terminated. And that little store should be removed if they won’t take accountability for the fact that the machines don’t work.”

Kromm said he began his new job the day after Memorial Day and went from earning $48 an hour at Ford to $52.51 plus a $10-per-hour bonus.

“No one can find enough electricians,” Kromm said. “Looking back, I just think that I would have been happy to pay for that cookie again, just pay for it twice. I liked the people I worked with. I think we made a great product. If I could somehow go back two months and just avoid this, I would. I was very happy doing what I was doing. I liked working at Ford.”

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