Ramsay maitre d' awarded £23,000 for unfair dismissal

Gordon Ramsay's company has been ordered to pay nearly £23,000 in compensation to a 53-year-old former maitre d' at the restaurant in London's Connaught hotel, after an industrial tribunal ruled he was unfairly dismissed.

But the tribunal found no evidence of a campaign to force out older senior staff, as claimed at the hearing in March.

Maitre d'hotel Salah Saber, who had worked at the Connaught for 14 years, was sacked on the spot on 19 June 2002 after being accused of drinking a large gin at a nearby pub during his evening break.

Saber maintained that he had not been drinking and that his dismissal was unfair, based both on the facts of the case and the way the sacking was carried out.

Ramsay's company claimed Saber had had two previous verbal warnings about drinking on duty and that it had a "zero tolerance" policy on drinking while at work.

But the tribunal panel ruled that no proper disciplinary warnings were given on either occasion and that there was no finding that Saber had been under the influence of alcohol. The enquiry into the incident was "inadequate".

The panel also found that the company's rules on drinking only forbade drinking on the hotel premises, drinking of alcohol belonging to the hotel, or being on duty while under the influence. This did not amount to "zero tolerance".

The tribunal accepted Saber's testimony that he did not drink on duty as this would tarnish the image of a five-star hotel, and that as a head waiter it was part of his job to provide a role model for more junior staff.

But the tribunal rejected Saber's claim that, after the restaurant transferred to Ramsay's company in March 2002, there was a policy of dismissing old staff who refused to accept new terms and conditions.

"The evidence is that there was a relatively high turnover of staff, but we do not find that this was exceptional or that it was connected with the transfer," the panel said.

After he was dismissed, Saber said he had tried to find work in nine or ten five-star establishments in London and registered with two or three employment agencies, but had not received a single job offer.

In October he was forced to return to Wales, where he had family, and took up a seasonal job as a hotel restaurant manager. He is now unemployed.

The tribunal made a basic award of £4,875, plus a further £18,000 for loss of earnings.

It said the dismissal had ruined Saber's long career at the Connaught, "which hitherto had been unblemished."