The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE defunct Compass Point Restaurant and Bar has been ordered to pay a man $8,000 for unfairly dismissing him for theft in 2019.

According to an Industrial Tribunal judgement, Perry Gould was employed at the restaurant for almost three and a half years until he was fired on November 3, 2019. He was the restaurant and bar manager responsible for managing, controlling and protecting inventory. Initially, he was paid a weekly salary of $800. This was reduced to $480 starting January 2019 when he began working three days weekly.

The restaurant reportedly experienced inventory shortages. The company addressed this by demanding that bartenders process drinks through its Alpoa Point of Sale charging system and include drink slips. The failure to present a slip with a beverage would result in their gratuities being taken, “ranging from one day to one week, to possible termination for a third-time offence,” according to the ruling of Vice President Ingrid Cooper-Brooks.

On October 29, 2019, Mr Gould reportedly sought permission from the night auditor to have the bartender pour him a drink. He allegedly assured them he would put the drink on the general manager’s tab the next day and have it included in the night auditor’s report. However, he did not do so.

The restaurant later fired him for theft and told him they were investigating “some missing Remy XO”.

Mr Gould sought $14,666 compensation for his dismissal.

He argued that he was not allowed to call witnesses or records. He said having a drink after hours was not unusual.

He said before he was fired, the property owner found out he was a chief shop steward at Melia for the Bahamas Hotel Catering and Allied Workers Union and told him he would have never hired him if he had known this.

Two witnesses Mr Gould called, the night auditor and a bartender, corroborated his account of what happened.

Witnesses called by the restaurant disputed his account of what happened.

Ultimately, the tribunal concluded the restaurant fired Mr Gould “with no clear disciplinary rules and procedure”, which was “unreasonable and unfair”.