Cheryl was accused of stealing a handful of sweets and sacked... now her boss owes her $24,000

By SARAH BROOKES - SENIOR REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 04:36, 14 April 2026 | Updated: 04:54, 14 April 2026 A pharmacy assistant who was sacked after being accused of stealing a handful of sweets – including a cookie and a Curly Wurly – has won her unfair dismissal case and been awarded $24,000 in compensation. Cheryl Sazdanoff, who had worked at the Docs John Hunter Hospital Pharmacy in Newcastle since 2011, was accused of theft during a shift in September last year. The long-serving employee was confronted by Doc Pty Limited (DPL) business owner Aleksandar Gavriloski, who allegedly told her, 'We've caught you stealing.' Mr Gavriloski claimed Ms Sazdanoff had taken confectionery from the pharmacy on four occasions over recent months, including a Byron Bay cookie, two chocolate hearts, a rainbow Nerd rope, and a packet of Curly Wurly Squirlies. The Fair Work Commission heard Mr Gavriloski made only a brief attempt to show Ms Sazdanoff CCTV footage, rushing through partial clips that failed to load properly and repeatedly froze. Despite this, she was told to attend a disciplinary meeting the following day to discuss allegations she had taken and consumed stock without paying for it. Shocked by the accusation, Ms Sazdanoff immediately paid for the items she was accused of stealing. At the meeting, Mr Gavriloski questioned whether she could provide receipts for the confectionery he alleged she had taken. Ms Sazdanoff (pictured) was seemingly a well respected employee with pictures of her celebrating her 50th birthday on the pharmacy's social media pages Business owner Aleksandar Gavriloski (pictured) allegedly told a pharmacy assistant of more than a decade, 'We've caught you stealing' Ms Sazdanoff stated that she felt overwhelmed, distressed and intimidated, and was unable to explain her position properly. At the meeting, Mr Gavriloski handed her a letter terminating her employment alleging her theft constituted serious misconduct warranting dismissal.  Ms Sazdanoff denies she engaged in theft or that her conduct otherwise warranted her summary dismissal.  She said it was common practice for staff to eat food items during their shift and to pay for them at the end of the shift, if not before. She said on two of the occasions she had shared the confectionery with colleagues, and incorrectly assumed that they would pay for them. Commissioner Damian Sloan reviewed the CCTV footage and found the pharmacy assistant had made no attempt to 'disguise or conceal' her conduct.  He found that she had paid for the cookie, and the footage of her eating the other items fell short of demonstrating that she intended to steal them.  'The absence of receipts or other proof of payment for the items is not sufficient to establish an intention to steal,' he said. Cheryl Sazdanoff had worked at the Docs John Hunter Hospital Pharmacy (pictured) since 2011 'I am not satisfied on the evidence that DPL has established that Ms Sazdanoff engaged in the theft which was the basis for her summary dismissal.'  Commissioner Sloan said it was clear from the evidence Ms Sazdanoff was not the only person who consumed items of stock at work.  'Mr Gavriloski gave oral evidence that one other employee was dismissed at about the same time as Ms Sazdanoff had been,' he said.  'He stated that almost every other staff member was given a first and final warning with the outcome being dependent upon the number of times people had stolen. 'Given my findings above, DPL treated Ms Sazdanoff more harshly than her co-workers, without apparent justification.' Sloan found that if DPL had not dismissed the pharmacy assistant, she would have remained employed for at least a year. He ordered DPL to pay the pharmacy assistant $23,960 plus superannuation. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.