A former chef at a Scottish fast food outlet has been awarded £5,000 compensation after he was sacked for refusing to buy chicken nuggets from the company’s self-service canteen. David Michie, 52, was employed as a chef at McDonald’s in Balloch, near Glasgow, for five years until his dismissal in 2012.
A man who was sacked from his Scottish poultry farm for serving up a small chicken nugget in a canteen has been awarded £5,000 in compensation after the work place tribunal ruled the action was discriminatory.
A man who was sacked from a supermarket for taking a chicken nugget outside a fried chicken takeout counter has been awarded a six-figure sum in a tribunal. The staff member, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was dismissed from the Waitrose store in Edinburgh after he took a chicken nugget from the staff canteen. The Waitrose supermarket staff member was not named in a tribunal ruling, which can be accessed here. The tribunal was told that the employee was dismissed from his post after another member of staff saw him take a chicken nugget from the canteen. The staff member was a member of a team that ran a soft drinks and snacks vending machine. The tribunal was told that the man had told a colleague
After being served his lunch, Steven Smith stormed out of the canteen. (Photo courtesy of Getty/Google)
A worker got a payment of more than £5,000 after complaining about only being given three chicken nuggets at the employee canteen.
When Steven Smith was given the £1.99 portion, he said he was “shocked” and “disillusioned,” and he was “antagonized” when informed it would cost him 99p more.
Before shoving the food back towards her and storming off, the then-30-year-old employee informed a canteen staff, “If I wanted a happy meal, I would go to McDonalds.”
The lady behind the counter was “nearly terrified to come into work” following the incident, and Mr Smith was subsequently fired for gross misconduct when the business discovered he “behaved aggressively.”
However, a panel has recently ruled that his firing was unjust because his employers failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the issue.
Since November 2016, Mr. Smith has worked in human resources for Teleperformance Limited, a company headquartered in Scotland.
Mr Smith said, “Is that it?” after buying chicken nuggets, fries, beans, and cheese during a lunchtime run-in in September 2019.
‘I knew he was furious by his attitude and the shift in tone and vocabulary,’ the startled canteen waiter said. He wasn’t screaming, but he was a lot louder than before.’
Bosses at the Airdrie office were deemed to have failed to conduct a thorough investigation before firing him. (Image courtesy of Google)
Mr Smith was summoned to a disciplinary hearing for his “irrational” behavior, and he was accused of “assaulting” the canteen staff.
‘Due to the disillusionment of what was presented before me in the white box in which the food was presented and the sheer shock of what I was presented, I showed nothing more than dissatisfaction at which said canteen lady should have offered to raise a complaint,’ Mr Smith testified at the hearing.
‘However, she did not do so, instead antagonizing me by telling me that if I wanted more, I would have to pay an additional £1 for three chicken nuggets.’ Due to my dissatisfaction, I advised that if I wanted a happy meal, I should go to McDonalds.
‘I stated the meal, not the quantity amount, was meant to be subsidized.’
The quantity of the meal at the subsidised canteen left Mr Smith “disillusioned,” according to the tribunal (Picture: Getty)
‘It’s not my fault that this canteen woman didn’t see or comprehend my displeasure. She should have expressed her displeasure and filed a complaint.
‘Instead, we’re in this position where I’m being unjustly accused of offending this lady, which was not my intention since I expressed displeasure with what was given to me, not by whom it was delivered.’
Mr Smith also said that he was on medicine and had worked almost 12 hours of overtime.
In October 2019, he was fired after another disciplinary hearing, although he subsequently challenged the decision, accusing the corporation of a “vendetta.”
The company’s inquiry was determined to be faulty, and his flushed face was due to a medical condition rather than rage, according to a tribunal.
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‘The caustic comment about a happy meal is not by itself offensive or unpleasant,’ said employment judge David Hoey. Depending on their culinary tastes, the remark may have been good for some. Others may have had a bad experience.
‘On the circumstances of this case, no employer operating honestly and reasonably would have conducted the inquiry that was conducted.’
Mr Smith will get £840 in compensation for unfair dismissal, £3,333.60 in compensation for wrongful dismissal, and £1,008 in notice pay.
The business has been approached for comment by Metro.co.uk.
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A French catering executive in Glasgow has won compensation after his sacking over the less than satisfactory quality of his chicken nuggets in a local McDonalds. Gordon Allan, 51, was sacked by catering company, Sodexo, after complaining that the chicken used by the company for his contract with McDonalds had “a bit of plastic in it”.. Read more about bbc news stoma bag and let us know what you think.
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