A husband and wife business duo have lashed out at a “vindictive” waitress seeking compensation from them – despite being sacked for raiding their till.
Cafe owners Jan and Simon Hargreaves were brought before an employment tribunal in Inverness yesterday by former employee Anne Read.
The 43-year-old claims she is owed £2,000, including £1,100 in holiday pay.
The dispute arose after she was caught on camera taking £60 from the cash register at the cafe and shop at Foyers on Loch Ness-side.
She was sacked from the Waterfall Cafe on the spot and admitted the theft when the case went to court.
But she has since insisted she was driven to commit the crime by her “controlling” bosses.
She said last night: “The anger and resentment I felt towards Mrs Hargreaves led me to make a very bad choice.”
During the tribunal hearing, Read set out her case before employment judge Nick Hosie.
Read began working at the Waterfall Cafe in March 2014, and was dismissed the following May.
She told the judge that, during her first year there, Mrs Hargreaves did not tell her that she was entitled to holidays or provide her with a written contract.
Read maintains she is owed £1,100 in exchange for working on 28 days during which she should have been on holiday.
Read said holiday entitlement was “never discussed” and she was simply not scheduled to work on days she had requested off for personal reasons.
“It wasn’t until after I got dismissed that I realised I was entitled to holidays”, she said.
Mr and Mrs Hargreaves both swore under oath that Read had been encouraged to take the time off, but had chosen not to.
Mrs Hargreaves told the tribunal: “I had said to her to take days off around Christmas when her child was not at school.
“But she refused to take any. We said we would look into whether she was entitled to some money for holidays not taken, but within weeks of that she was dismissed.”
After the hearing, the couple lamented the “sickening episode” they had become embroiled in.
Mrs Hargreaves said: “There’s a vindictiveness behind this whole thing.
“We accept that we should have had terms and conditions set out in writing, and that is something we are now working on improving.”
Mr Hargreaves added: “This really is a sickening episode, and we are keen to put it behind us as soon as possible.
“We’ve learned a very salutary lesson.
“But, we have had members of staff return to work with us every summer since we opened in 2010, so we know what kind of positive working environment we have.”
Read, who still lives in Foyers, tried to deny the theft last year but later pleaded guilty at Inverness Sheriff Court in November.
She was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work as part of a community payback order.
Last night Read said she was pursuing the tribunal in order to highlight the cafe’s “substandard working practices”.
She added: “Regardless of what Mr and Mrs Hargreaves have stated, this is not in any way for my own financial gain.
“The majority of my time there was full of anxiety, anguish and distress.”
Read is demanding holiday entitlement worth £1,118.13, a further £795.20 for failure to be given a written contract, and £230 for the tribunal fee.
Mr and Mrs Hargreaves have offered to pay her £60.82 in holiday pay from 2015.
Judge Mr Hosie will return his ruling on the case as quickly as possible.