Wholefoods store slammed for sacking chef with cancer
A wholefoods store in Sydney who sacked a chef for taking three days off to go to hospital for cancer treatment has been described as “extraordinarily heartless” by the Fair Work Commission.
Chanintorn Siri worked as a chef at Urban Orchard Food in Sydney's Circular Quay. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Siri was granted three days sick leave when he was admitted to hospital with severe stomach pain. However, two days later he was sacked over the phone by Urban Orchard's owner Gabrielle Levette.
Levette claimed that she offered his job to another cook as Siri was an unreliable employee who has closed the store too early on one occasion, took regular sick leave for no reason and often started late. She also alleged that he engaged in ongoing conduct of fraudulently completing his timesheet.
"Although the applicant may have exhibited some level of what might be described as less than perfect work performance, conduct and capacity, these were not matters that jeopardised the ongoing employment," Commissioner Ian Cambridge said in the judgment. "The employer acted with callous and undue haste when it engaged a replacement employee.
"This unnecessarily harsh approach was compounded by the extraordinarily heartless disregard for the personal circumstances of another human being who was suffering from pancreatic cancer."
Commissioner Cambridge ordered Urban Orchard to pay Siri total compensation of $18,200.
However, Levette expressed her disappointment with the outcome, saying it will jeopardise her business.
"He imposed a judgment that will probably force us to liquidate our company and place 10 people out of work,” she told Fairfax media. “The commissioner just paid no heed to how difficult it is to run a small business.”
Sheridan Randall, 22nd May 2019
