She had sprinkled a generous helping of chocolate on a 99p McFlurry dessert after her workmate said ‘make it a nice one’.
However, her bosses at the fast food chain accused the 19-year-old of gross misconduct for giving away food.
Yesterday Miss Finch, who had been called an ‘exceptional employee’ in appraisals, was awarded £3,000 compensation after taking her employers to an employment tribunal.
After the case centred on the branch in Carmarthen, west Wales, was settled out of court, she said in a statement: ‘I was accused of stealing food.
‘The matter was trivial, in that I provided a fellow employee, who was purchasing a dessert, a generous sprinkling of chocolate pieces.
'There is no standard for such measures – they are always imprecise and will vary among customers.
‘My colleague had asked me “make it a nice one”. So the measure I gave erred on the side of more than – rather than less than – the mean.’
Miss Finch, of Kidwelly, had earned £180 a week when she worked at the outlet run by franchise company Lonetree for 18 months while studying.
The student, who is now doing A-levels in chemistry, physics and biology, won the payout after conciliation service Acas was called in. Part of the settlement is that she will receive a good reference.
Comments by her former managers had included: ‘You are very polite and friendly to all customers, even when they can be trying. Your smile is very welcoming.’
Another said: ‘You have worked hard and your positive friendly attitude has been recognised.’
At the time, he wrote to her mother Tessa saying: ‘Your daughter has admitted giving away food without receiving payment. This is classed as gross misconduct as per my Employee Handbook, the consequence is dismissal.
‘You may feel it is trivial, but with 740 employees in my business, if my team were to overlook such incidents, then it would quickly become a free-for-all.
‘There are notices in every one of my staff rooms reminding employees of this policy as well as the Employee Handbook.’
Mrs Finch, an accountant, said at the time of her daughter’s dismissal that the accusation of theft was ‘a terrible stain on her character’.
A Lonetree spokesman said: ‘This has been resolved. No admission of liability was made.’
