Assaulted in work

LegacyUser

Hi all going unreg for this one... Went into work today only to be told a friend was hit and assaulted, and not for first time, by the head chef. He wanted to call the Guards but was told not to, so he left work. Head chef is Nigerian and used to be the pot scubber. Now he's head chef and is hitting people. What are my friend's rights?

Zaph

OP, I've tidied up your post to make it readable. If you wish to post anything further on this thread please refrain from using text speak or your posts may not get approved.

Thanks

tony1kenobi

He only has to agree to being hit if he is a boxer.........go to a solicitor.

Agent J

The fact he is nigerian and head chef are two irrelevant facts.

The fact he is hitting someone is.

Report it to the gardai immediatly and advise the owner/manager of the resturtant unless they do something about it immediatly you will sue them for a hostile/unsafe work enviroment.

Dont stand for it.

Overheal

Agent J wrote: »

The fact he is nigerian and head chef are two irrelevant facts.

Unless you have a genuine concern that it is some kind of hate crime. But does he just hit your friend, or everyone?

Gemini Sister

Agent J wrote: »

The fact he is nigerian and head chef are two irrelevant facts.

.

Ahha ha a ha

You were clearly born on the 16th of march 2009! Congratulations!

For those of us who weren't born yesterday and have lived in africa: the fact that he hit you is not that bad - though he should know better.

And so should you. If you can't punch him them shout; this is unacceptable. Take it to wherever you need to. Nobody in ANY culture will accept you being hit.

Affable

Gemini Sister wrote: »

Ahha ha a ha

You were clearly born on the 16th of march 2009! Congratulations!

For those of us who weren't born yesterday and have lived in africa: the fact that he hit you is not that bad - though he should know better.
.

Hitting is common in Africa?

OP, no one has the right to tell you or your friend not to call the guards if a crime has been committed. Assault and battery is a crime. However, i would advise that your friend go to work, ask for disciplinary proceedings be taken. If they don't answer, then make the request again, in written form, keeping a copy yourself and requesting a written reply. He that doesn't work, call the guards. Physical abuse is grounds for dismissal, but it's important it's done formally.

Snowie

if the head chef is hiting people he doesnt belong in a kitchen....
I can understand verbally insulting asome one as the enviroment is not like most job's but hitting some one is completely out of order...

he could tell the gardi and do what agent j said which to be honest is the best way....

Oh The Humanity

Unregistered wrote: »

He wanted to call the Guards but was told not to, so he left work.

He was told not to? By who?

So what, he should ignore whoever told him that and call the guards. He should then bring assault charges against the individual who hit him.

His rights are the same as anyones, the Chef hasn't got a leg to stand on and whoever gave him the bad advice about not calling the Guards has some answering to do especially if they were in a position of seniority.

cowzerp

Get your friend to Charge the bully with assault, he cant get away with this, its simple really-assault is assault wheter its in work or not.

20goto10

Personally I think the guards is the wrong approach. They won't care and he'll lose his job for nothing. I would hit back. Seriously. It doesn't matter if the guy is bigger, next time he does it hit him a smack. In my experience bullys do not know what to do when people fight back and its the quickest and easiest way to put a stop to it.

cowzerp

20goto10 wrote: »

Personally I think the guards is the wrong approach. They won't care and he'll lose his job for nothing.

They have to care if its pushed, and the chef will lose his job. and not for nothing, for assault.

prinz

Agent J wrote: »

The fact he is .......... head chef are two irrelevant facts.

Actually if you'd ever worked in a kitchen the fact that he is head chef is very relevant, given the pressure, heat, close quarters that the staff are working in. Having worked in the kitchen of a gastro restaurant in France I have experience of this. One memorable memory is of a bowl of steaming hot mussels coming flying my way, grace á le chef. I said nothing and by the end of the night's shift he was my new best friend again.

If you work in that environment, allowances have to be made. People snap under that pressure, especially if this guy in question has risen quickly and in this work-place as the post indicates.he may not have the experience
neccessary.

All this said, if he is making a habit of hitting people on the job, then have a word, go to management, and as a last resort go outside of the work place. If you go to management and inform them of the situation and tell them nobody wants to work under this headchef in the kitchen, he'll be out or on his best behaviour.

yellowcurl

I think we should all expect to be able to work somewhere without the threat of being assaulted.

Your friend should go to the guards. Simple as.

If the owner/manager doesn't know about this, they should be informed. If they were who advised him to not go to the guards then they should also be held accountable. No employer should encourage this, it would be simply opening a floodgate for this chef to think it's acceptable.

Jaysoose

20goto10 wrote: »

Personally I think the guards is the wrong approach. They won't care and he'll lose his job for nothing. I would hit back. Seriously. It doesn't matter if the guy is bigger, next time he does it hit him a smack. In my experience bullys do not know what to do when people fight back and its the quickest and easiest way to put a stop to it.

This is the worst advice i have read on boards to date, two wrongs dont make a right.

OP you buddy should Ring the Guards end of and take a case against him and his employers as they are contributing to the situation.

Beruthiel

20goto10 wrote: »

Personally I think the guards is the wrong approach. They won't care and he'll lose his job for nothing. I would hit back. Seriously. It doesn't matter if the guy is bigger, next time he does it hit him a smack.

Banned for a week.
Violence is never the answer and suggesting it is a breach of the forum charter.

stovelid

prinz wrote: »

Actually if you'd ever worked in a kitchen the fact that he is head chef is very relevant, given the pressure, heat, close quarters that the staff are working in. Having worked in the kitchen of a gastro restaurant in France I have experience of this. One memorable memory is of a bowl of steaming hot mussels coming flying my way, grace á le chef. I said nothing and by the end of the night's shift he was my new best friend again.

The handy media confection of head chef as irascible genius seems to be always bandied around as an excuse for horrible behaviour, even assault.

I too have worked in a pretty posh kitchen and on one or two occasions I fell out with the (nice enough guy) head chef, and under provocation, he threw stuff thrown at me. I was never hit by him. I would consider that as an assault.

There is a huge difference between an occasional loss of temper and systematic assault. If the OP's colleague thinks that the latter is occurring, the management need to be informed.

LegacyUser

prinz wrote: »

If you work in that environment, allowances have to be made. People snap under that pressure

No allowances can be made for physical violence. If this is how this person deals with pressure, they should be removed from that position immediately.

Judes

Every employee is entitled to Dignity At Work. OP please contact the Health and Safety Authority immediately - to advise them of this workplace assault - as this is much more serious then the normal harrassment or bullying. Harrassment of a physical nature is usually viewed as something like jostling or shoving - so imagine how this assault would be viewed. The number for Health and Safety Authority is listed below. There are offices throughout the country.

Locall: 1890 289 389 (between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday)
Fax: 01 614 7020
Email: wcu@hsa.ie
Overseas callers should call +353 1 614 7000

I am curious as to who advised OP not to contact Gardai - and did they take OP to the Doctor for medical investigation? Were they a Manager, Owner, HR person? I am horrified to think of anybody being struck like that - and more horrified at the lack of assistance or good advice from the workplace.

Best of luck to the OP - and please, please, please contact the Health and Safety Authority. J

Pub07

20goto10 wrote: »

Personally I think the guards is the wrong approach. They won't care and he'll lose his job for nothing.

No what will happen is the chef will be charged with assault and lose his job and the OP will be eligible for a compensation payment if he says he is no longer able to work in that place as a result of getting assaulted.

seamus

The attitude about "high pressure environments" and the like is something I've heard a lot of chefs and kitchen staff write off as nothing more than foibles and quirkes of that environment. It's all complete crap and the "passionate chef" thing is all ego-stroking Gordon Ramsey wannabe bull. If someone is unable to take the pressure of being in a kitchen without lashing out at their co-workers, then they need to go find a new career, or an anger management specialist. Plenty of other people have far harder jobs with far more stress and they don't feel the need to batter their co-workers. Ask a nurse when's the last time a co-worker threw a bedpan at her in anger.

Nobody should have to take any kind of abuse at work, be it verbal or physical. Refusing to report this abuse does nothing except to validate this moron's actions and tell him that it's OK. Report it to the Gardai. Screw anyone who says different. If you get fired, you sue your workplace and press charges against the chef.

prinz

stovelid wrote: »

The handy media confection of head chef as irascible genius seems to be always bandied around as an excuse for horrible behaviour, even assault.

I too have worked in a pretty posh kitchen and on one or two occasions I fell out with the (nice enough guy) head chef, and under provocation, he threw stuff thrown at me. I was never hit by him. I would consider that as an assault.

There is a huge difference between an occasional loss of temper and systematic assault. If the OP's colleague thinks that the latter is occurring, the management need to be informed.

I agree 100%, but nothing tells me in the OP that this was systematic or anything other than a one off thing. I wasn't condoning the behaviour, trying to offer an explanation. As I said have words, go to the management. Could just be a serious lapse of judgement that could be sorted quite quickly without gardaí getting involved.

Overheal

prinz wrote: »

Actually if you'd ever worked in a kitchen the fact that he is head chef is very relevant, given the pressure, heat, close quarters that the staff are working in. Having worked in the kitchen of a gastro restaurant in France I have experience of this. One memorable memory is of a bowl of steaming hot mussels coming flying my way, grace á le chef. I said nothing and by the end of the night's shift he was my new best friend again.

If you work in that environment, allowances have to be made. People snap under that pressure, especially if this guy in question has risen quickly and in this work-place as the post indicates.he may not have the experience
neccessary.

All this said, if he is making a habit of hitting people on the job, then have a word, go to management, and as a last resort go outside of the work place. If you go to management and inform them of the situation and tell them nobody wants to work under this headchef in the kitchen, he'll be out or on his best behaviour.

I remember working stephen's day in a Hotel/Night Club. 6 hours of serving without a moment to think and 1 barman every 4'. Tempers did flare, and managers working beside me had no problem criticizing my work and before the night was done I had no problem about yelling at them to back the fcuk off. But that wouldn't be the same story if he had hit me or I him. Its a fine enough thing afterwards for the both of you to forget it sure, but its not like its a freak occurence is it?

This head chef in the OP sounds as though he regularly hits his staff, and that is not on. Besides that, its close quarters enough, people carrying hot food and working over scalding surface - you hit someone and somebody could lose control of a knife or drop a tables worth of food onto the floor or lose their balance and seriously injure themselves or others. Not to mention the inevitable flinching from repeat assault.

Pub07

prinz wrote: »

I agree 100%, but nothing tells me in the OP that this was systematic or anything other than a one off thing. I wasn't condoning the behaviour, trying to offer an explanation. As I said have words, go to the management. Could just be a serious lapse of judgement that could be sorted quite quickly without gardaí getting involved.

Thats BS, it doesn't matter if it was systematic or not, doing it once is enough.

Turner

Beruthiel wrote: »

Banned for a week.
Violence is never the answer and suggesting it is a breach of the forum charter.

What about self defence?

Using no more force than necessary to defend yourself up to and including killing your aggressor is allowed in irish law. (even though its up to a jury to decide after)

Id say if the nigerian gets tough again and the person is in a position to defend themselves, they should.

Also contacting gardai would be a good idea. Maybe where this fella comes from physical assault is acceptable (and if he is form nigeria it probably is).

He needs to realise its not acceptable here and is actually against the law.

Agent J

Gemini Sister wrote: »

Ahha ha a ha

You were clearly born on the 16th of march 2009! Congratulations!

For those of us who weren't born yesterday and have lived in africa: the fact that he hit you is not that bad - though he should know better.

I am an uber advanced baby with keyboard skills who went back in time to 2006 and set up a boards account to use when i was born.

Now how about applying your keen logical skills to working out the geographical area this incident is taking place?
Thats right. It aint Africa!

The persons race, sex, age, religion are all irrelevant factors. Their actions are what is key. just because someone would get away with it in their home terrority and its accepted as a norm there doesnt mean we have to tolerate that here.
And we shouldn't.

prinz wrote: »

Actually if you'd ever worked in a kitchen the fact that he is head chef is very relevant, given the pressure, heat, close quarters that the staff are working in.
...

If you work in that environment, allowances have to be made.

Allowances yes but not for physical violence. And i have worked in that kind of enviroment and worse. If a persons response is to physically lash out at a co worker then they cannot handle the stress and should not be in that job or any position of authority.

RealistSpy

Affable wrote: »

Hitting is common in Africa?

Yes hitting is common in africa especially in schools but this doesn't justify a grown man being hit at work. If he is underpressure the manager should fire him-cheif.

This should be reported final.

mumhaabu

The injured party should get the Gardai involved and contact a solicitor immediately. This person should be deported from Ireland and if an Irish person was to hit him, he would be quick to cry Racism and the Gardai would be involved. There is ways and means and if the Gardai is not interested sue the employer, I worked in a Hotel once upon a time and yes Chefs are stressed but that give noone the right to hit another human being. This guy is surrounded by knives and this could have turned out very different.

OP tell your friend, there is also financial compensation to be had from both the bully and the Hotel for the way they tolerated. This guy is scum and should be deported asap.

stovelid

prinz wrote: »

I agree 100%, but nothing tells me in the OP that this was systematic or anything other than a one off thing. .

.

Unregistered wrote: »

Hi all going unreg for this one... Went into work today only to be told a friend was hit and assaulted, and not for first time, by the head chef.

smileykey

I thought your employer had a responsibility to protect employees from assults such as this? I'd not only encourage your friend to go to the gardai but also to citizen's information to find out about his employment rights and what he can demand from your employer. Also if you are at risk from a similar assult I suggest you find out your own rights, e.g. can you refuse to work with him without fear of being let go, etc.?