A customer’s request for pineapple on a pizza became a point of dispute between Brisbane chef Davide Tamburella and his employer. When Tamburella challenged his dismissal, the case turned on a date. His application reached the Fair Work Commission in July, after the June filing deadline had passed.

On 3 November, Commissioner Jennifer Hunt declined to extend the deadline and dismissed Tamburella’s general protections application. The ruling left unresolved why La Costa Restaurant and Bar in Fortitude Valley fired him on 20 May.

The pizza order came up at a meeting two weeks before Tamburella lost his job. He acknowledged that he understood managing director Elliot Ingram wanted him to add pineapple to a pizza for a function. Tamburella said he declined because he saw the request as disrespectful to his Italian culinary heritage. By his own count, it was the third time in four years he had refused a similar instruction.

La Costa also raised concerns about Tamburella’s language and conduct during service. Among the incidents it cited was one on 24 April, when he struck a metal handrail and fractured fingers on his dominant hand. Ingram told the Daily Mail that the restaurant’s concerns centered on Tamburella’s conduct. He said the injury, the chef’s medical leave and his workers’ compensation claim played no part in the decision to dismiss him.

Tamburella has since taken a head chef role at Don Gino in Brisbane’s West End, according to his LinkedIn profile.