An Italian chef in Australia took a stand on the hot-button issue of pineapple on pizza: He was steadfastly opposed.
Then he was unemployed.
Davide Tamburella recently filed a complaint about his termination from La Costa in Brisbane, Queensland, with Australia’s Fair Work Commission. He reportedly refused to top a pizza with pineapple, although that’s apparently not the only reason he was dismissed from the position.
According to media reports, Tamburella had refused to use pineapple as a topping on three occasions over the past four years. At one point, he asked management to “check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza.”
A ruling from the Fair Work Commission stated that Tamburella considered the topping “an insult to his culture,” the BBC reports. The commission ruled against Tamburella, finding that he had filed his complaint too late.
Tamburella (pictured above) was fired from La Costa two weeks after a meeting with management to address his job performance. The BBC says Tamburella asserted that he did not have to follow management’s instructions “when it is offensive to his culture.”
La Costa is no longer in business. It closed after its lease expired in July. But managing director Elliot Ingram told the Daily Mail that there was “more to this story than a pizza topping.”
“As recorded in the Fair Work Commission’s published decision, refusing to follow a management direction relating to a customer request was one of several matters raised during the disciplinary process,” Ingram said. “The decision records the concerns we raised about inappropriate language, escalation during service, and interactions with staff.”
In one incident, Tamburella reportedly fractured the fingers on his dominant hand by striking a metal handrail. But Ingram added that “our position in the proceedings was that Mr Tamburella’s workplace injury, medical leave and workers’ compensation claim played no part in our decision to end his employment.”
Tamburella is now head chef at Don Gino in West End, Queensland.
In his LinkedIn profile, Tamburella lists his “key achievements” at La Costa, including increasing the restaurant’s Google rating from 3.5 stars to 4.4 stars within the first year and reducing operational costs, including food, labor and COGS, from 40-45% to around 30% and “significantly improving profitability.”
