Courts / Ireland / Report
Pizza chef sacked over using database to send 'creepy' texts to 16-year-old customer loses challenge
2026-05-12
Hearing Or Decision
Summary
A pizza chef, Syed Saeed Akhtar, who was dismissed after allegedly making inappropriate comments to young girls and sending "creepy" texts to a 16-year-old customer, has lost his challenge against the dismissal. The Workplace Relations Commission heard that Akhtar made "creepy" remarks to girls as young as 12, calling them "little princesses" and making lewd gestures. He was given a verbal warning by the shop owner, Jin Hintao, after these incidents. However, the following month, it was discovered that Akhtar had used the company's customer database to send inappropriate texts to a 16-year-old girl, including a message asking, "What u have plan for weekend?" The girl's mother confronted Akhtar, who claimed he had intended to send the message to an adult woman and called it a "total mistake." Akhtar admitted to sending the text but denied the verbal warning. The adjudicator, Lefre de Burgh, ruled that the dismissal was both procedurally and substantively fair, stating that texting the 16-year-old girl was "gross misconduct" justifying summary dismissal.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Pizza chef sacked over using database to send 'creepy' texts to 16-year-old customer loses challenge. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision
When:
- 25 October Other
- 2026-05-12 Publication
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