Tracy Lewis had been with Bon Appetit for 12 years

Mar 21, 2013 07:37 GMT  ·  By

A woman from Washington D.C. Claims that she has been wrongly terminated over selling Girl Scout cookies at her workplace.

Tracy Lewis worked in the food services industry, on the American University campus. According to My Fox DC, she got her first job on campus 28 years ago, and it was the only workplace she ever knew.

For the last 12 years, she has been employed by Bon Appetit, having earned the executive position of Retail Service Manager.

The Bon Appetit Management Company have motivated their decision by citing “gross misconduct by soliciting,” and describing her volunteering to sell the sweets as “operating a cash business selling Girl Scout cookies over the counter, which violates company policy.”

Lewis argues that the sale did not bring about any financial gain for her, therefore does not qualify as a policy violation.

“They didn't give me any warning. [...] I had the cookies on a cart, and I would never ask anyone to buy them. [...] But, if they wanted to buy some, I would sell them,” she responds.

She is a single mother of two whose oldest son is in college, and she explains that she has been supporting her daughter by helping her troops sell more cookies.

“It's a volunteer position. I was just trying to help my daughter raise money for trips and stuff like that.[...] It's crazy because I can't profit for selling the cookies,” she says.

While troop Leader Alina McClerkin defends the mother who she believes is being wrongly punished for raising money for charity, Girl Scouts officials do not condone her actions.

“A cookie mom is a selfless person. She doesn't profit from any of this in any way. She's doing it out of the goodness of her heart. [...] I don't think anyone should be terminated for doing such a charitable thing,” McClerkin notes.

“Girl scout cookie sales are a girl-led, entrepreneurial program. We want the girls to be taking the lead,” Chief Operating Officer Colleen Cibula of the Girl Scouts Council says.