A Dublin restaurant that is frequented by Hollywood actors and international pop stars has been ordered to pay a former chef a total of €8,750 in compensation for several breaches of employment law.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the company which operates the Rosa Madre restaurant on Crow Street in Dublin’s Temple Bar had unfairly dismissed a chef, Luca Rosati, earlier this year.
The popular Italian-style seafood restaurant has counted a string of international celebrities, including actors Jamie Foxx and Will Ferrell, singer Nick Jonas, and rock star Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Foo Fighters, as diners in recent years.
The restaurant’s owner, Luca De Marzio, attended a hearing of the WRC on the morning of September 13th, 2024, with its manager, Elizabeth Reis, but they left the proceedings after their application for an adjournment was refused because they wanted to open their restaurant at 12pm.
Mr Rosati told the WRC that he was employed as head chef in Rosa Madre for two years and three months, working an average of 52 hours per week.
He claimed he was dismissed on February 17th, 2024 after he tried to have a discussion with Mr De Marzio about the restaurant being short-staffed when only three chefs were available instead of four when the restaurant had 160 diners.
Mr Rosati said his employer reacted aggressively and told him that he should not be talking to his colleagues about problems and to stop complaining or leave.
The chef said he left the restaurant and texted Mr De Marzio two hours later in which he wrote that he was sent home and “probably can be consider us (sic) as unfair dismissal.”
He said he got no reply from the restaurant’s owner and did not get paid his fortnightly wages on the date they were due.
The WRC heard he started another job on March 12th, 2024.
Mr De Marzio disputed any allegation that the chef was dismissed and claimed that Mr Rosati threatened to stab him during a discussion about staffing before announcing that he was leaving.
However, the chef said he had never threatened to stab anyone but had left the restaurant after being told by the owner to “get out of my house.”
The restaurant’s representative, Seán Stokes of CS Consulting, pointed out that the owner, Ms Reis and another witness had all provided written statements that the chef had threatened to stab Mr De Marzio.
Mr Stokes also accused Mr Rosati of having used racist comments and being aggressive towards other staff.
He said Mr De Marzio had informed the chef that extra staff were arriving in a week to help with the workload.
The chef replied that Ms Reis was the owner’s partner and was not impartial and that the other witness was Portuguese and could not have interpreted their conversation.
The WRC also heard Mr Rosati complain that he frequently started work at 10am without having a break of 11 hours from the previous evening, while also claiming that the restaurant was often too busy for him to take a break to eat lunch or dinner.
He claimed he was owed holiday pay for the first six weeks of 2024 and stated he was not paid in lieu of notice.
All claims were disputed by the restaurant.
WRC adjudication officer, Catherine Byrne, said it was difficult to try and interpret what both parties intended in relation to the chef’s job as communication between them was “far from unequivocal.”
Ms Byrne said it was apparent the owner and the chef enjoyed a good relationship prior to February 17th, 2024.
She said Mr De Marzio could have contacted the chef if it was the case that he had not been dismissed within a day or two of having received Mr Rosati’s text message and could have made “some effort to resolve the dispute.”
Ms Byrne concluded that the chef was dismissed based on the failure of the employer to contact him after he was told by Mr Rosati that he considered himself dismissed.
She said it was not unreasonable for the chef to have raised staffing issues with the owner.
Ms Byrne said there was a conflict about what happened in the conversation and the only reliable fact was that Mr Rosati left and Mr
De Marzio did not seek his return.
She added: “The responsibility to manage the employment relationship falls squarely on the employer and, regardless of the fractious nature of the relationship between them, an employee at risk of dismissal is entitled to the benefit of fair procedures.”
Ms Byrne said the only conclusion she could reach is that the dismissal was substantively and procedurally unfair.
She awarded him compensation of €2,550 which was the equivalent of three weeks’ pay.
The WRC also awarded the chef €1,700 for failure to be provided with minimum notice and €3,000 for breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 over failure to be given statutory rest breaks.
The restaurant was also ordered to pay him another €1,500 in compensation for having to work in excess of the permitted maximum number of hours per week.
The WRC did not uphold the complaint about payment of wages after being notified that they had been paid before the end of February 2024.
