TORONTO (Reuters) - An attendant at a Canadian restaurant who was sacked for giving a bite-sized doughnut, worth 16 cents, to an agitated toddler was given her job back on Thursday after the case received wide media attention.

Nicole Lilliman, a single mother, said she was dismissed from a London, Ontario, outlet of the Tim Hortons coffee and doughnut chain after video cameras captured the 27-year-old giving a Timbit to a toddler.

"It was just out of my heart, she (the toddler) was pointing and going 'ah, ah...' I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy," Lilliman told the Toronto Star newspaper.

Tim Hortons said on Thursday that the firing was a mistake.

"It was the unfortunate action of one manager who unfortunately made an overzealous decision, and thankfully we were able to rectify the situation," said company spokeswoman Rachel Douglas.

Douglas said the company, a Canadian icon with stores on virtually every high street across the country, told Lilliman that she could have her job back, and Lilliman had accepted.

A single Timbit sells for 16 Canadian cents (16 U.S. cents), but most shoppers buy boxes of 10, 20 or 40 of the deep-fried goodies, which come in a variety of flavors.

Douglas said Tim Hortons had received a number of complaints. "Thankfully we're able to go back to them and say we were able to fix the situation," she said.

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At least she got the job back.

I worked for them for a while, and seriously... They're actually like that. Each item [doughnuts, cookies, muffins, bagels, etc] has a certain number of hours as 'shelf life', and around 2 or 3am every day they toss everything, replacing it with new, fresh product. Very rarely our store would save the bagels and donate them to something [I forget what exactly], but other than that... If you were caught taking some of the stuff for yourself [even though it was just going in the trash], you were pretty much out of a job.

I don't know why they were so strict on it... I mean, while you're working, you're allowed free doughnuts and such anyway.

but you know, in this day and age...this person really needs to be more 'thinkful'....some other mother of a child would probably want to 'sue' this kind person.....(2 million for mental anguish)

Glad she got her job back and is looking for a better employer to work for.

What!....no 'only in canada'.....LOL

Glad they gave her her job back. Pretty shameful to fire someone over 0.16$.

i could understand why they'd have such strict guidelines on taking food when they're supposed to go in the trash, but this not so much.

lol... fire someone for 16¢ and engage a new one that will cost you a bunch.

Why waste so much food?