Man Fired for Using Forklift on Candy Machine at Iowa Business

A 27-year-old man has lost his job and Iowa unemployment benefits for using a forklift on a malfunctioning vending machine.

The Des Moines Register says Robert McKevitt had deposited money in a vending machine last fall, but the candy bar he wanted wouldn’t fall.

State unemployment records say his banging and rocking the machine didn’t work, so McKevitt commandeered a forklift, picked up the machine at least six times and dropped it on the floor at the Polaris Industries’ warehouse in Milford. Three candy bars fell.

In a ruling released last month, a judge denied McKevitt’s claim for unemployment benefits, saying he’d willfully disregarded his employer’s interests.

McKevitt told the Register he never lifted and dropped the machine but did use it to move the machine back in place.