Farnham pub wins unfair dismissal case

By Michael Webb

The landlady of the Seven Stars pub in Farnham, Surrey, said she felt "totally vindicated" after a chef's claim for unfair dismissal was rejected by an industrial tribunal last week.

Lesley Barnard was accused of constructively dismissing Debra Gibson, who was her chef for four months between November 1994 and February 1995.

Mrs Gibson claimed she was forced to resign because it was unsafe to work in the pub's kitchen and because of Ms Barnard's unreasonable behaviour.

A qualified chef and teacher of health and safety in kitchens, Mrs Gibson was asked when she joined the pub to list anything below standard in its kitchen. Among other things, she reported that an extractor fan was broken, the windows and doors had no fly screens, there were gaps below the doors which could give access to vermin and there was faulty wiring.

"If anything had shorted, the public would have been in danger as well as the staff," Mrs Gibson told the tribunal.

She added that the crunch came when she was not allowed to have lunch during working hours. She explained her health would suffer because she was diabetic.

She also claimed she was eventually forced to take sandwiches to work because Ms Barnard objected to her eating pub food. "The arrangement that I was permitted a meal and a drink was withdrawn in February," Mrs Gibson said.

The atmosphere at work deteriorated. She said Ms Barnard became bitchy and started to swear at her. Mrs Gibson announced she was resigning on 13 February.

Finally, she left on 21 February, after Ms Barnard had threatened to hit her on the head with a telephone. She said she could no longer work in a kitchen with so many health and safety defects, nor could she take further abuse. Ms Barnard then witheld £201.60 from her final week's pay, she claimed.

In her defence, Ms Barnard told the tribunal that although they served an average of 30 lunches a day, the restaurant was losing about £300 a week. She needed to make economies, which included no more free drinks for staff. Ms Barnard added that Mrs Gibson was at fault for not mentioning her diabetic condition until the week she left.

Ms Barnard said she believed the chef had left because of the strained atmosphere between them and proposed cutbacks which would have affected her work. The resignation letter did not mention any aspects of health and safety in the kitchen, she added.

Jean Mason, chairwoman of the tribunal, held in Croydon, Surrey, dismissed the claim for unpaid wages because Mrs Gibson had left without completing her notice. Also, Mrs Gibson did not leave exclusively for reasons of health and safety. Her complaint of unfair dismissal, therefore, failed because she had not worked there for two years.

Ms Barnard said afterwards that she had provided numerous letters from satisfied past and present customers and was delighted the tribunal had decided in her favour. "I have got a temper but that's why I have a pub with no trouble," she said.