An Italian chef has reportedly been fired from a restaurant in Brisbane, Australia, after protesting that putting pineapple on pizza was "an insult to my culture."
The management of the restaurant 'La Costa' met with Chef Davide Tamburella after a series of complaints against him, and fired him in May of this year, two weeks later. Currently, the restaurant is closed.
Among the complaints filed against Tamburella was that he refused to serve ham and pineapple pizza to guests at the event.
At the time, Tamburella is said to have protested to management, saying, "If it's an act that insults my culture, there's no need to follow it."
These details were revealed when Tamburella reported to the Australian Fair Work Commission that he had been unfairly dismissed.
In a decision released on the 3rd, the committee explained that Tamburella acted this way because "as an Italian, he believes that putting pineapple on pizza is an insult to his culture."
He also revealed that Tamburella had refused to put pineapple on his pizza three times over the past four years.
He is said to have once asked restaurant executives to "find out how important it is to Italians not to put pineapple on their pizza."
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Meanwhile, Queensland, where this restaurant is located, is Australia's main pineapple producing area, and all commercially produced pineapples in Australia are produced here.
On Queensland's Sunshine Coast, there is 'The Big Pineapple', a 16m tall glass pineapple sculpture that is listed as a cultural heritage site. This pineapple, where tourists gather to take pictures, has become a local landmark.
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In addition, according to the decision, it was pointed out that Tamburella used profanity, had communication problems, and "expressed his dissatisfaction with increasing intensity in the workplace."
It also details an accident in April of this year in which Tamburella broke a bone in his right hand after slamming into a metal railing at work.
Tamburella was hoping the restaurant would sponsor permanent residency visas for skilled workers.
However, after the dismissal, the restaurant reportedly stopped the visa sponsorship process.
The committee decided to dismiss his application for unfair dismissal relief on the grounds that it was received beyond the application deadline.
Meanwhile, Elliot Ingram, the restaurant's CEO, emphasized in an interview with the Daily Mail that "it wasn't just a pizza topping issue."
The BBC has asked Tamburella to comment.
Tamburella introduces himself as a person who has focused on “providing excellent food” and “improving business performance” in the introduction section of LinkedIn, a social media platform for recruiting and job seeking.
Three months ago, I wrote a “letter to chefs” with the aim of “respecting ingredients.”
Additionally, according to his LinkedIn profile, he is currently working at another restaurant in Brisbane.
As a result of the BBC's confirmation, it was found that there was no pineapple on the restaurant's menu.
