On a bustling London North Eastern Railway (LNER) service departing from York on May 7, 2023, two first-class passengers made what seemed like a simple request: sausage rolls. What followed would spiral into an incident that drew national attention, led to a heated employment tribunal, and sparked debate on customer service, food safety, and workplace mental health.
Peter Duffy, a long-serving LNER train worker, was at the center of the controversy. According to multiple reports, including those from Metro, BBC News, and The Independent, Duffy was accused of retrieving sausage rolls from a kitchen bin, plating and reheating them, and then having them served to unsuspecting first-class passengers by a colleague. The incident didn’t go unnoticed by other crew members. One staffer, after being told the sausage rolls had been thrown away, later noticed the kitchen bin was empty and reported hearing laughter from the kitchen just before the food was served.
"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," the concerned crew member told investigators, as cited by BBC News. Moments later, the same staffer reported, "lots of laughing" could be heard from inside the kitchen where Duffy and his colleague were stationed. After finishing their own meal, the staffer went to dispose of rubbish, only to find the bins empty and no sign of the sausage rolls that were meant to be there.
What truly sealed the fate of the sausage rolls—and Duffy’s job—was the CCTV footage. As reported by Metro and The Independent, the footage appeared to show Duffy retrieving the food from the bin in the presence of his colleague, plating and reheating the items, and then handing them off to be served to the first-class coach. The evidence prompted LNER to suspend both Duffy and his colleague pending an investigation into a possible breach of food hygiene standards.
During an investigatory meeting on May 17, 2023, Duffy was forthright about his actions. "I clearly took them out as there were none left for people in first class but they were wrapped in foil," he stated, according to tribunal records published by Metro and Daily Mail. He explained, "We had totally ran out, I have just gone too far for the customer in my mind." Duffy described himself as "a person who goes over and beyond for the customer," adding that he was trying to do the best for the passengers—a reputation he claimed to be well known for among his colleagues.
But Duffy’s defense didn’t end there. He disclosed he was suffering from anxiety and depression at the time and was under significant stress at work. A union representative present at the hearing added another layer, stating that Duffy had suffered from transient global amnesia on the day of the incident—a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory. This condition, the representative argued, could have affected Duffy’s judgment and actions.
Despite these explanations, the investigation pressed on. Duffy’s colleague, who was present in the kitchen during the incident, denied seeing him take the sausage rolls out of the bin. Instead, she attributed the laughter heard by other staff to having passed wind, a claim the tribunal later found "unreliable as it was likely to be self-serving," as noted in Daily Mail and The Independent.
Ultimately, the tribunal found Duffy guilty of gross misconduct. In July 2023, he was dismissed from his position at LNER. Not one to accept the outcome quietly, Duffy launched claims of unfair dismissal and discrimination, arguing that his actions were linked to his mental health struggles and the episode of transient global amnesia. The case reached a tribunal in Newcastle in August 2025, where both complaints were heard in detail.
The tribunal’s ruling, published on January 4, 2026, was clear: LNER had acted reasonably in dismissing Duffy. According to the judge, there was no evidence that Duffy’s actions were a direct consequence of his disability. The judgment, reported by BBC News and Metro, stated, "The actions which led to his dismissal were not a result of his disability." Both the unfair dismissal and discrimination claims were dismissed.
The fallout from the incident has been multifaceted. On one hand, food hygiene and customer safety are non-negotiable in the railway industry, especially in first-class service where expectations run high. The idea of serving food that has been in a bin—even if wrapped in foil—raises obvious concerns about standards and public trust. LNER’s decision to suspend both Duffy and his colleague pending investigation, and to ultimately dismiss Duffy for gross misconduct, underscores the seriousness with which the company treats such breaches.
On the other hand, Duffy’s case highlights the pressures faced by front-line service workers and the sometimes-blurry line between "going the extra mile" for customers and crossing professional boundaries. His repeated assertion that he was "trying to do the best for the customer" speaks to a culture where employees may feel compelled to prioritize passenger satisfaction—even at the expense of established protocols.
The role of mental health in the workplace also came under the spotlight. Duffy’s admission of anxiety, depression, and a possible transient global amnesia episode on the day of the incident added complexity to the proceedings. While the tribunal ultimately ruled these factors were not the cause of his actions, the case has sparked broader conversations about how employers should support staff with mental health challenges and ensure fair treatment during disciplinary processes.
The incident also exposed the challenges of workplace investigations. The conflicting accounts from Duffy and his colleague, the reliance on CCTV footage, and the tribunal’s skepticism toward self-serving testimony all point to the difficulties in ascertaining the full truth in such cases. As the judge noted, the evidence from Duffy’s colleague—who denied witnessing the retrieval—was deemed unreliable, leaving the CCTV as the most persuasive account of what transpired.
For the passengers who unwittingly ate the sausage rolls, the story is an unsettling reminder of the unseen realities behind the scenes in hospitality and travel. For LNER and other rail operators, it’s a cautionary tale about the importance of rigorous training, clear protocols, and robust support systems for staff.
Peter Duffy’s saga may have ended with his dismissal and the tribunal’s ruling, but the questions it raises about food safety, customer service, and employee welfare are likely to linger far longer on the rails of the UK’s railways.
