Glen Kraft, a truck driver terminated for texting a message to his boss while in motion has been reinstated by Nestlé along with back pay after a company investigation that sided with the driver.
Kraft said he was parked on the side of the road when he wrote and sent the message but it did not go through until he started driving again because of poor cell service.
A Nestlé human resources official who communicated with Kraft about his reinstatement declined to speak to Fleet Owner this week, saying he could not comment publicly on the case. A call to the company's corporate communications office was not immediately returned.
Kraft said that he will not return to Nestlé. During the appeals process with Nestlé, he took a job with his previous carrier, Black Horse Carriers, and plans to keep that job.
Kraft maintained that a poor mobile signal delayed his message, but made it seem as though it was sent while he was driving. A test text sent by a Chicago TV station photographer backed up Kraft's claim.
He told Fleet Owner this week: "I guess they [Nestle] knew my next action was going to be a lawsuit and they couldn’t win it. I guess with the magazine article [in Fleet Owner] and the news channel [CBS Chicago] video, they knew I wasn’t playing any games… I’m sending them a resignation letter today."
Kraft says he has been driving since 1989, first operating a semi-dump truck and then for other food companies. He joined Nestle about 1.5 years ago and drove a dedicated route between East Dundee, IL, and Appleton, WI.
