The Bloomberg BNA snack camera brouhaha

Erik Wemple of The Washington Post writes about plans by Bloomberg BNA management to install a camera watching the employee snack area due to some recent “thefts” and contemplates why management would want to do such a thing.

The company has since backtracked from the move.

Wemple writes, “To prevent further plundering, the company is planning to install, and you’re not going to believe this, surveillance cameras. ‘[I]f you are observed taking any amount of soda, juice, milk, fruit or snacks home you may be subject to termination from BBNA for cause.’

“The pantry in question, says a Bloomberg BNA employee, is stocked with things like peanut butter, cereals, chips and crackers, low-fat sweet things (like Snackwell cookies) and bags of popcorn. Fresh fruit is also on offer. When asked about the smuggling allegations, the employee confirms them. In one case, says the source, a mother was finishing work well into the evening; on her way out, she bagged a couple of Pop-Tarts and remarked that the items would please her young son.

“Is that a firing offense?

“Not in the view of the Bloomberg BNA source. One of the benefits of the snacks, says the employee, is that it keeps everyone closer to their desks and longer on the job. ‘They’re getting a little extra work out of people,’ says the employee.”

Read more here.