‘Kitchen nightmare’ chef barred from returning to workplace
The catering manager has endured six years of tension with the chef that culminated in a row between them in December 2014 concerning incorrectly cooked mince meat.
The incident took place three years after the chef threatened to kill her boss.
The chef was taken off kitchen duties following the mince incident. In response to their employer proposing to return the chef to the kitchen, the manager told the employer “something terrible” would happen if the chef returned.
In a bid to prevent this, the manager took a case to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) , which recommended the chef not return to the kitchen for now.
Adjudication officer Kevin Banehan said: “It seems unconscionable to allow a workplace return to a situation where the staff and management are on edge.” The WRC has also awarded the catering manager €500.
The WRC made the award as a result of the delay by the employer in advancing the chef’s complaint from the uncooked mince incident and failing to implement recommendations from the 2011 incident where the chef threatened to kill the catering manager.
