At Least Some Good Has Come Out Of This Sorry Affair.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2382881/Family-got-dinner-lady-fired-accidentally-served-child-gammon-emigrating-Muslim-country.html

[Gromit]

She has not put in a claim for unfair dismissal. Yet.

But she said on the telly this morning that she was "considering it".

[LazyGun]

It is evident where the DMs sympathies lie. Interesting though it might be, what does the background of the parents have to do with the merits of this dinner ladies dismissal, other than an attempt to elicit more sympathy for the dinner lady?

I think I will defer judgement. She was dismissed for "gross misconduct" wasnt she, and a simple error as described in the original story does not appear to qualify for that.If so, I would have expected her to appeal against the decision before now.

I think it likely there is more to her dismissal than this story would suggest.

[bazwillrun]

Good riddance
Shame that a lot more of them dont follow suit

no loss whatsoever

[Octavius]

Come now baz, we need dinner ladies. I have fond memories of mine.

[bazwillrun]

I knew someone would come up with that !
That will teach me to hit Enter too quickly

This must be the only board left on the net without a time limited edit function

[Octavius]

LG she was dismissed by the catering company (not he school) for gross misconduct due to 'negligence, carelessness or idleness'. Maybe it is part of their KPIs.

It seems that "[the school had] around 40 pupils with various dietary requirements and it was impossible to keep track of them" and thus unsuitable for the job she was required to do?

I can see that this does seem heavy handed but imagine if she'd given a dish containing nut products (satay sauce) to a kid with extreme nut allergy and going into anaphylactic shock.

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

/// "At Least Some Good Has Come Out Of This Sorry Affair" ///

/// Hmmm... ///

Has that gammon started to repeat on you sp :0)

[berniecuddles]

As quoted in the mail "Miss Waldock said the pupil had actually asked for the meat. ‘I asked, “Do you want the gammon?” and she said yes, so I served it to her,’ she said."

Zahid and Rumana Darr asked for Alison Waldock to be dismissed!

Miss Waldock accidentally served pork, forbidden by Islam, to their daughter!

am i missing something here?? the girl asked for it!

[anotheoldgit]

jno

/// you don't know the history of this woman, emmie, and the Mail isn't about to tell you, so best to wait and see what comes from more reliable
sources. ///

Perhaps it was the dinner lady who blew the whistle on him? :0)

*** The nine-year ban was imposed in February 2011 but in May this year he was found to be operating a similar company named Interecruit (GB), which supplied agricultural workers. ***

[jno]

Octavius, on an earlier thread on this subject, someone posted a link to the original story in a local newspaper. In this, the company said it wasn't their practice to sack anyone for a single mistake.

This suggests it might not have been an isolated incident. Unfortunately the Mail didn't print this, probably to leave it more room for photos of Rihanna's new haircut, so we may never know.

[jno]

berniecuddles, it is not the job of school staff to give pupils everything they ask for. The girl may never have heard of gammon and not realised it came from pigs. The dinner lady should have, though.

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

/// How can someone be a dinner lady for 11 years and not know that muslims do not eat pork? ///

Do not, or not supposed to?

[emmie]

Bernie, which is what i also pointed out.

[Octavius]

"am i missing something here?? the girl asked for it!"

Yes. You are definitely missing something.

jno, yes I note your comment - and agree - on reserving judgement.

[berniecuddles]

gods sake if the dinner ladies had to do that for every child check what they can or cannot have they would be there all day doing school dinners has common sense gone out the window!

[emmie]

the girl was asked if she would like gammon, and she said yes. Perhaps the girl didn't understand what gammon was.

[Octavius]

bernie, thats their job.

[Gromit]

If I had been unfairly dismissed, and I found myself on national television, I would be telling my ex-employer that I would be pursuing my claim and that I would win.

I would not be still considering it. Perhaps in her heart she is not so sure of her case as she pretends to Mr Farage and the Mail.

[emmie]

perhaps she is weighing up her options. I confess that i too would consider it, then decide that the employer wasn't worth it.

[LazyGun]

The idea that "common sense has gone out of the window" can only apply if you believe that this dinner lady was sacked for gross negligence by the company employing her following this single incident over what was described as a genuine mistake.

I seriously doubt that this was the reason for her dismissal; The company themselves have indicated as much. Should she elect to appeal, we may learn more.

Until then, I would reserve judgement, and would agree with Octavius and Jno that her dismissal is not simply based upon the incident described in the DM.