A Snack, a Slip And a Second Chance

His extended family tried to intervene, but Holland had no copy of his statements to Safeway, no paperwork at all.

His aunt called Safeway offices more than a dozen times, she said, trying to explain Holland's disabilities and get someone to hear the human side of the story. He had worked at Safeway since shortly after high school graduation. Now, heading a family of six, he was struggling to pay bills without his paychecks.

Steven Holland, Michael's uncle, said he drove to the chain's Lanham offices Feb. 8 and waited for two to three hours in a lobby but was unable to see anyone.

"This is not just his job but his whole life," Steven Holland said. "He cannot just go get a job."

The letter that ended Holland's career was dated Jan. 31 and postmarked Feb. 19. It arrived Feb. 20, with just one sentence: "This is to inform you that as a result of a security investigation, your employment with Safeway has been terminated."

"One sentence, after 18 years," said Holland-Handon, his aunt.

"We just cannot fathom this," said his uncle, emphasizing $1.78 was involved. "What about second chances? . . . It was almost like he had robbed Safeway."

After yesterday's meeting, union officials told the family that Holland's record with the company was positive and showed no such offenses previously, Steven Holland said.

Greg TenEyck, a Safeway spokesman, said that the company decided to make an exception from its "very strict" policy against employee theft. He characterized the terms of the reinstatement offer as a "last chance."

"Any future violation of this policy will result in termination," he said.

With 200,000 employees, many of them working all day amid food, Safeway has created "strict standards about not eating the profits," TenEyck said. "We are in a very competitive business, with very thin profit margins."

Other companies have strict policies against theft, said Harry Manley, director of servicing for Local 27. In the last year, perhaps two dozen of his local's grocery workers at various stores have been fired for swiping small amounts of food, he said. Previous cases have included tidbits of cheese from a customer-sample tray and a bowl of deli salad, he said.

The idea that any theft can lead to being fired is stressed to employees, Manley said.

For Holland, Safeway was a career, and he was proud of his independence, of not relying on aid or disability benefits.

Hired in 1990, Holland worked part time without a promotion for nearly 10 years, then got a better part-time job in Germantown and afterward a deli position in Damascus.

His big moment came four years ago, when he became a full-time employee. "I was pretty much ecstatic," Holland recalled. By then he had married. His wife, Roberta, had three children, and she and Michael also have a daughter of their own. The family of six lives in Gaithersburg.

"All I want to do," he said, "is continue to work and provide for my family."