Walkout chefs lose dismissal claim

Two French chefs who walked out of a restaurant days before millennium eve, in protest over plans to introduce a cheaper menu, have lost their claims for unfair dismissal.

Head chef Samuel Creton, 33, and sous chef Vincent Reau, 27, claimed that they were unfairly dismissed from their jobs at Peevers Restaurant in Edinburgh. But an employment tribunal heard that they left after learning that boss Peter Hood and his wife and business manager, Judith, had decided to move away from gastronomic food.

Hood wanted to make the restaurant more profitable and introduced less expensive "bistro-ish" food to attract more customers.

The two chefs walked out on 27 December, following a meeting between Creton and Hood. It meant the restaurant was left without a chef, and millennium bookings had to be cancelled.

The tribunal accepted that both were good chefs and the real reason they left was because they did not want a less expensive menu.

Although the unfair sacking claims were rejected, the restaurant was ordered to pay Creton £200 holiday pay and Reau £637.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13-19 July 2000