Chef sacked because of her large helpings
A former hotel chef was sacked for dishing out over-generous portions of chips, an employment tribunal heard last week.
The Inverness tribunal was told how the Station Hotel in Muir of Ord, Easter Ross, got into cash difficulties. The bank moved in with a caretaker manager to improve profits.
The manager, Bill McGhee, claimed his orders to cut down on the chips were ignored by 18-year-old chef Lynsey MacLeod.
"I told her about us having to make money for the bank and creditors but she told me she would put out what portions of chips she saw fit," McGhee said. "I told her ‘I don't think you and I can work together, pet' and she walked out."
The tribunal heard how MacLeod had worked happily at the eight-bedroom hotel for two years but left a few days after McGhee's arrival.
McGhee said he found "terrible wastage", despite his attempts to cut down.
But MacLeod said that she was "taken aback" by McGhee's attitude. "There were no problems until he came to the hotel and he certainly did not tell me three or four times about the proper size of portions and wastage," she said.
The tribunal has reserved its decision on the unfair dismissal claim until a later date.
by Alan Dow
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 27April - 3 May 2000