Chip shop worker receives £6,000 payout after being sacked for being British

By
Eddie Wrenn

Last updated at 7:00 PM on 20th February 2012

Chip shop worker Kimberley Burrell had spent a happy ten years working at her local chippy.

The 29-year-old had been a fixture at Joanna’s Fish Bar in Hartlepool, meeting and serving customers for 16 hours every week.

But all that changed when new Turkish owners took over the shop – and promptly dismissed her and replaced her with ‘cheap, foreign labour’, which cost the bosses £2 less per hour.

Loyal chip shop worker Kimberley Burrell from Hartlepool was sacked from Joanna's Fish Bar within weeks of new owners taking over

Loyal chip shop worker Kimberley Burrell from Hartlepool was sacked from Joanna’s Fish Bar within weeks of new owners taking over

Burrell has now been awarded £6,000 after an employment tribunal agreed she had been unfairly sacked.

The tribunal heard that within weeks of owner Zana Ahmed taking over, Kimberley was replaced by Turkish and Polish staff.

Speaking to the Sun, Kimberley said: ‘I got sacked for being British. It’s a disgrace.’

However the situation is not necessarily resolved, as owner Ahmed, who told the Sun that Kimberley was ‘a disappointing employee’, said he would refuse to pay up.

Anyone who fails to pay tribunal compensation may be taken to county court.

Legal wrangle: New owner Zana Ahmed has said he does not intend to pay the fine

Legal wrangle: New owner Zana Ahmed has said he does not intend to pay the fine

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.

I took my old boss to Et and I won, they didn’t pay, took them to CC and they still haven’t paid………..the system doesent work

She cannot be an unsatisfactory employee as she had worked there for so many years.

There is something to be learned here. If I used the place in the past, I certainly wouldn’t any more.

Well done what a great result. No one should be replaced with slave labour 🙁

She has won her case. The employers should be jailed if they refuse to pay up. Simple.

I just get so sick with anger reading stories like this. Good on her 4 doing something about it.

“However the situation is not necessarily resolved, as owner Ahmed, who told the Sun that Kimberley was ‘a disappointing employee’, said he would refuse to pay up”. My I suggest you all refuse to buy fish and chips from Mr Ahmed for being a disappointing owner.

What is going on?!

Why only £6,000?? I would urge people to boycott this chip shop to teach the owner a lesson.

She won’t see a penny. County court is a rubbish waste of time!

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