London - A Harrods worker is claiming £1million compensation after he was sacked for eating a £7.50 slice of chocolate cake sent back by a customer for being too dry.
Restaurant supervisor Juan Mackenzie, 35, is suing the London department store after eating the triple-layered Devil’s Dog Cake which was going to be binned after a shopper complained about it.
He then tasted a slice from a fresh cake to make sure it was moist enough, an employment tribunal heard.
Chilean national Mr Mackenzie also claims he was discriminated against by colleagues due to his race, age and sex.
Female colleagues Mr Mackenzie dubbed him the ‘Lithuanian mafia’ mocked him for being bald, and even pinned a drawing of him on the wall at the Godiva Chocolate Cafe in Harrods, the Central London Employment Tribunal heard.
The father-of-one was sacked in October over the accusation that he had eaten the cake.
But Mr Mackenzie said he had just tasted it to confirm that it was indeed too dry.
‘We opened a new cake and I cut a slice and tried it, like I did with the returned piece,’ he added.
Ed Capewell, for Harrods, said: ‘Two other witnesses said that you had eaten the cake rather than tasted it, which was misconduct.’
Mr Mackenzie alleges unfair dismissal, sex, race and age discrimination. The tribunal continues.
Daily Mail