A man has been awarded €10,000 in compensation after he was illegally sacked for attempting to feed cats with leftover hotel food. Paradise Bay Hotel Ltd was ordered to pay former employee David Fenech compensation after an Industrial Tribunal found there was no sufficient reason for his dismissal.

The tribunal, presided over by lawyer Katrina Borg-Cardona, heard hotel director Stefan Fenech explain how he had fired Mr Fenech after he saw him placing around 15 kilos of meat in a bucket to feed cats when the food was meant to go to employees.

He said he confronted Mr Fenech on the matter and fired him after a discussion that lasted only around a minute. He said it was company policy that food does not leave the hotel premises.

However, the tribunal heard other witnesses confirm the bucket with meat was not taken out of the hotel but was found in the pantry.

The hotel director explained that the meat consisted of pork chops and steaks that had been left over from guest meals.

This food is usually stored and used to feed employees, he said.

But the night duty manager, Paul Busuttil, told the tribunal that the food found inside the bucket, which was only half full, was going to be thrown away as it was a couple of days old.

Leftover food would have been given to workers

Mr Fenech testified that he had been approached by the hotel director, who asked why he was placing meat inside an empty bucket of yoghurt.

He told his superior he was picking up leftover food to feed cats outside the hotel.

But the director asked him whether he had dogs at home and as soon as Mr Fenech replied in the affirmative, he informed him that his job was being terminated.

Mr Fenech told the tribunal that the meat was leftover pork from a Maltese night organised two days before, as well as some pasta.

He had collected the food from the staff canteen and placed the bucket in the pantry to feed the cats later, as he had done in the past with food that was going to be thrown away.

Regarding the policy that food must not leave the premises, the tribunal ruled that this was not written down and could not be used as justification for dismissal.

In its judgment, the tribunal said the hotel had not managed to prove that food had actually left the premises and it had conceded that Mr Fenech had not stolen any food.

The hotel accused Mr Fenech of “misappropriation of a quantity of meat” but the tribunal ruled this had not been proven.

On the basis of this, the tribunal awarded the former worker €10,000 in compensation.

Lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona appeared for Mr Fenech.