She's had the chop!!

[Gob]

A Cambridge primary school dinner lady has reportedly been sacked for accidentally serving pork to a Muslim pupil.

Alison Waldock, 51, claims she served 7-year-old Khadija Darr the gammon after the youngster pointed to the dish on the lunch menu.

It is understood the mistake was spotted by the school’s headteacher who swept the plate away from the youngster before she had chance to eat it, and the girl’s parents were then informed who complained to the school’s catering firm.

Dinner lady of 11 years Alison was suspended while chiefs investigated.

She insisted it was a genuine mistake but she told a national newspaper how she was dismissed a month later, following an appeal, for gross misconduct due to “negligence, carelessness or idleness”.

British Muslim groups have branded the decision to sack her “heavy-handed” and an “overreaction”.

While Alison today claimed she was being made a scapegoat - and is now too afraid to ever take another job as a dinner lady.

The mum-of-two said: “I feel the school and catering company made me a scapegoat so they can’t be seen as politically incorrect.

“I was really upset when I found out what I’d done. I’d never have done something like this on purpose. It was a simple mistake - I was so gutted with the school’s reaction.

“I am now too scared of taking any similar catering jobs with the council. This incident has ruined my career as a dinner lady.

“I don’t think I will ever work as a dinner lady again. I don’t want to go through all this again - it has been horrible.

She added: “It was a normal day. The children came in and were waiting in line. I said to the child ‘do you want gammon’ and she said yes so I gave it to her.

“It’s so hard to remember every child that has dietary requirements. The school secretary came in a bit later and said so and so has gammon and they can’t eat that.

“I went out and apologised to the headteacher, who was obviously annoyed. I said I was sorry and that it was a mistake. The head could tell I was upset and sorry.

“A week later there was an investigation and I was told that the school did not want me on site. I was gob smacked. I haven’t been back since.

“I feel so let down by the school. I had worked there a long time. I just made a mistake and I am sorry.”

Alison, who lives in Cambridge, said there were around 40 pupils with various dietary requirements and it was impossible to keep track of them with the lists she was given.

It is understood Khadija’s parents Rumana, 33, and Zahid, 36, contacted bosses at caterers Lunchtime UK after hearing of the error at Queen Edith Primary School in Cambridge.

The couple said the school told them Alison wasn’t concerned about the error.

Rumana, 33, said: “The person there said the dinner lady didn’t care or wasn’t that bothered.”

But shocked Alison insisted: “That’s just not true. If I saw the parents today, I would say sorry.”

Lunchtime UK Operations director Peter McAleese said: “Anyone losing their job is regretful. But there was a full and transparent procedure that Alison went through - as well as an appeals procedure which she lost.”

A spokesperson for Lunchtime UK added: “Following an incident involving Alison Waldock at one of our schools a full investigation was carried out prior to suspending her on full pay.

“A standard disciplinary procedure ensured which resulted in Alison Waldock being dismissed for gross misconduct.

“She was represented by the GMB union throughout the whole procedure and is now entitled to appeal through the tribunal system.

They continued: “Obviously we cannot provide all of the details surrounding the dismissal. However, as a general note, Lunchtime UK would not seek to dismiss any employee due to just one honest mistake.”

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire County Council said: “The authority was not involved.”

A spokesman for Campaign Muslim4UK said: “Mistakes occasionally happen. I’m sure the overwhelming majority of Muslim parents would be understanding.”

Inayat Buglawala, chair of Campaign Muslim4UK, told the national newspaper: “Dismissing a dinner lady for inadvertently serving pig meat is an overreaction.

“The most sensible way to rectify such mistakes is to improve awareness of the pupils’ dietary requirements while apologising to the pupils and their parents.”

UKIP leader Nigel Farage promised to take up Alison’s cause. He said: “I feel desperately sorry for her. If she’d served gammon to a vegetarian would she have been fired? I think not.”

The grandmother of Finley, 11 months, and mum to Kristian, 25, and Natalie, 23, has been working occasional shifts in her sister’s fish and chips shop since the incident on April 18.


http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambrid ... 115638.htm

[Sean]

Mmmmm... Gammon...

[Joe Guy]

Wikipedia says gammon is made from the hind legs of a pig.

Therefore it should be called back gammon.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I think every pupil should where a label on their shirt/blouse indicating their religion and/or dietery requirements so the servers will know who can have what.

[MajGenl.Meade]

A yellow star, for example?

[dales]

A pink triangle is very fetching.

[Scooter]

“Obviously we cannot provide all of the details surrounding the dismissal. However, as a general note, Lunchtime UK would not seek to dismiss any employee due to just one honest mistake.”

But it makes a much better story to pretend that it was all about the pork chop, so that's what we'll do.

[dgs49]

Would she have been reprimanded for serving pork to a Jewish student?

For serving meat on a Friday in Lent to a Catholic student?

I wonder.

[Scooter]

Did the pork chop have anything at all to do with why she was fired? Or did someone decide that would make a better story than the truth?

I wonder.