An Italian chef who refused to put pineapple on pizza because he considered it an insult to his culture has lost an unfair dismissal claim in Australia.
Davide Tamburella was fired from La Costa restaurant in Brisbane on 20 May after declining for a third time in four years to prepare ham and pineapple pizza for a function, the Fair Work Commission heard.
Commissioner Jennifer Hunt rejected Tamburella's general protections application on Tuesday, ruling the filing was late and did not satisfy the requirements for exceptional circumstances, according to The Guardian.
The tribunal heard that Tamburella had told managing director Elliot Ingram that any direction from management "need not be followed when it is offensive to his culture". He also asked Ingram to "check how important it is for Italians not to put pineapple on a pizza", BBC News reported.
Ingram said a large function spending more than A$15,000 had requested the topping. "Do I go and buy a ham and pineapple pizza? It's probably not my absolute favourite," he told the commission. "But I'm not going to turn my nose up at it."
Queensland produces all of Australia's commercially grown pineapples and is home to the heritage-listed Big Pineapple landmark on the Sunshine Coast.
Tamburella had been more than three years into an employer-sponsored 186 visa process for permanent residency. After his dismissal, the restaurant ended its sponsorship, meaning he would have to restart the process, Hindustan Times reported.
The restaurant shut down in July when its lease expired. Tamburella now works at another Italian restaurant in Brisbane where pineapple does not appear on the menu.