A former Disney employee told how he was inspired rather than sacked by the company after he confessed to his bosses he had spent USD 24,000 of company money after spending his paycheck on drugs.

Taron Sargsyan, of Armenian descent, shared the struggles he faced with meth addiction while working at his first job with Disney in California, in the USA.

Taron began working as an intern before the House of Mouse offered him a full-time position as a software engineer.

He told Newsflash the place felt as a refuge from life’s troubles after his Armenian family distanced themselves from him after coming out as gay.

Despite the joy that working with positive colleagues brought to him, Taron revealed his problems soon caught up with him as he could not shake his drug addiction.

The near-six-figure salary he earned was not enough to cover daily expenses after spending most of it on drugs, and he soon found himself in a desperate position.

Taron revealed that he then began using his corporate credit card, thinking he could pay it back before anyone noticed.

Soon, he had spent over USD 24,000 (GBP 18,900) of the corporate money.

Despite fearing an imminent firing, he decided to come clean to his manager in 2017 after taking a stranger’s advice.

To his surprise, Disney let him keep his job and offered him a second chance to keep working and gradually pay back the debt.

Taron described that point in his life as a turning point, and the gesture inspired him to go into rehab.

Although it was not easy at first, Taron said he eventually managed to get sober after the sixth attempt.

He also made amends with his family, who helped him pay back the money he owed.

Taron said the compassion and forgiveness he was shown inspired him to extend the same to his family.

In 2019, he left the company, but said he will never stop being grateful for their kindness.

Now, he hopes his story can help inspire others.

He told Newsflash: “I spent the last 4+ years of my life healing myself, my family, and investing in my life’s story.

“My dream for the future is to eventually turn my life story into a film in order to show people how we can harness the power of our imagination to transform our lives and fully heal from addiction.”