Chef’s Pineapple Pizza Dispute Ends in Dismissed Workplace Claim

A pizza order and a workplace claim

November 5, 2026 · 2:45 a.m. Central

A Brisbane chef’s challenge to his dismissal has been rejected after a workplace dispute that included his refusal to put pineapple on pizza. Australia’s Fair Work Commission dismissed the application because it was filed late, according to The Guardian.

The ruling did not decide whether Davide Tamburella’s dismissal was unlawful. He alleged his workplace injury was part of the reason he lost his job; his former employer denied the injury, leave and compensation claim played any part, according to DispatchTimes.

The request in the kitchen

Tamburella worked at La Costa in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. The Guardian reported that he was dismissed on May 20, about two weeks after a meeting about performance concerns. Those concerns included his refusal to add pineapple to pizza, which he viewed as an insult to his culture, the paper reported from the commission proceedings.

Managing director Elliot Ingram told The Guardian that a customer hosting a large function had requested ham-and-pineapple pizzas. The newspaper reported that Tamburella acknowledged it was the third time he had declined such a direction. Other conduct and performance concerns were also raised, according to DispatchTimes.

What the commission decided

Tamburella alleged his dismissal breached the Fair Work Act and was partly connected to an injury in which he fractured his hand. Commissioner Jennifer Hunt dismissed his general protections application because it missed the filing deadline and did not meet the exceptional-circumstances test, The Guardian reported.

That was a procedural decision. It did not determine the truth of the disputed reasons for his dismissal. Ingram said the injury and related leave were not factors, DispatchTimes reported. The restaurant later closed when its lease expired, The Guardian said.

Where the restaurant was

The restaurant’s former address was on Brunswick Street in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, according to its contact page. The star marks the approximate neighborhood, not the restaurant’s precise position.

Key dates

Dates are local to Queensland, Australia.

1. April 24, 2026Tamburella injured his hand, according to DispatchTimes.
2. May 20, 2026La Costa dismissed him, The Guardian reported.
3. November 3, 2026The commission’s decision was published, according to DispatchTimes.

Sources and visual credits

The Guardian: reporting on the commission case · DispatchTimes: case and employer response.

Visual: generated conceptual illustration of a pizza, not a photograph of the restaurant or the order.