Italian chef fired from Queensland restaurant after refusing to put pineapple on pizza
www.bbc.com
He had told his employer, an Australian restaurant, that pineapple on pizza was "offensive" to Italian culture.

An Italian chef sacked from a Brisbane restaurant had refused to put pineapple on a pizza because it was an “insult to his culture”.

Davide Tamburella was fired from the now-closed La Costa restaurant in May, a fortnight after a meeting with management who had a string of complaints about the chef’s behaviour.

Among them were Tamburella’s refusal to provide ham and pineapple pizza for guests at a function. At the time, the chef had stated that any direction from management “need not be followed when it is offensive to his culture”.

The details came to light after the chef went to Australia’s Fair Work Commission claiming he had been unfairly dismissed.

In its ruling released on Tuesday, the commission noted that Tamburella’s refusal to put pineapple on the pizzas was because “he considers, as an Italian, that putting pineapple on a pizza is an insult to his culture”.

  • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    38·
    7 days ago

    Other concerns were raised about Tamburella using foul language, his communication style and “escalation of frustration in the workplace”.

    The ruling also detailed an incident at work in April this year where Tamburella fractured bones in his right hand when he struck a metal hand rail.

    Let’s hear more about those, BBC. No, just the pineapple stuff? Okay.