Did This Lady Deserve To Be Sacked?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381769/Primary-school-dinner-lady-sacked-negligence-carelessness-idleness-accidentally-served-gammon-Muslim-pupil.html

A dressing down perhaps, it was not as if it was life threatening situation,
but sacked even after giving an apology, a little over the top I think, and I am not on my own apparently.

/// British Muslim groups said Ms Waldock's sacking was 'heavy-handed' and an 'overreaction'. ///

[EDDIE51]

There is more to this than we have been told I will stake my pension on it.
No way would one simple mistake justify sacking someone with 11 years service and a good record.

[EcclesCake]

Turkish, the child may not have known that gammon is derived from a pig.

The dinner lady should be aware of the dietary requirements of the children.

It isn't just a religious issue here, the fatal consequences of allergic reactions should also be taken in to account.

I haven't been following the report, I hope it is amicably resolved and lessons learnt.

[hc4361]

Eccles, 40 children in one school with dietary requirements. How is she supposed to remember them all?

[jno]

that's the job, though.

[joko]

maybe the school should introduce a card system that the child shows the dinner lady so they know what they cant have.
one of the staff could hand them out or have them somewhere the children can collect them each lunchtime.

it is ridiculous that she has been sacked. the child was in no danger and actually didn't even eat it in this instance

[jno]

that would be the obvious solution, joko, and pretty straightforward to implement. Who knows, perhaps it's in use already. The Mail has omitted to say so, even though they managed to rustle up a quote from the leader of a minor political party.

[neodarwinian]

Quite over the top, but I hear this religious " sensitivity " is de rigor in Great Britain these days.

Must kow tow to religion instead of rationality winning out.

[overthetop]

Any dinner ladies out there able to explain the system? How can one person, no doubt filling LOTS of plates of hungry children, possibly be expected to remember the dietary requirements of each individual child?

[hc4361]

Exactly, OTT. I assume dinner ladies' only come in to contact with the children when they are serving the meals - and of course, if one dinner lady is sick then another may be called in from elsewhere to cover.

[237SJ]

There`s got to be more to it. At the bottom of the article it says that it`s not the first time this has happened. Maybe the dinnerlady couldn`t be bothered to check the lists. The caterers are at fault as well. They should have a clear code beside the foods (as restaurants do) to indicate if the food is veggie/halal/kosher etc.

[hc4361]

You can't expect 5 year olds to pick suitable food from a coded menu.

[jno]

nope, but the dinner ladies should be able to do so.

Too much conveniently missing from the news report to draw any judgment from.

[whiskeryron]

Joko says have cards given to the children that they can show to the dinner lady but in my opinion it wouldn't be that simple, you only want one child who hides the card because he/she fancies something else that they see & the whole system crumbles.

WR.

[woofgang]

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.'
But headteacher of Queen Edith Primary School said this was not the first time Ms Waldock had made a mistake over pupils' dietary requirements.
Head Teacher Caroline Peet, said: 'We understand from Lunchtime UK that this was not a one off event and due to the significant number of children involved the company treated the issue with the seriousness it deserved.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381769/Primary-school-dinner-lady-sacked-negligence-carelessness-idleness-accidentally-served-gammon-Muslim-pupil.html#ixzz2ae0xkxeS
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Not the first time. Dealt with through proper disciplinary process. Represented throughout by union. seems like she hadn't got a good record and as has been said, what if it had been an allergy?

[hc4361]

How is the dinner lady expected to identify the child?

I'm referring to this dinner lady, but anybody doing that job. It is a large school with children speaking 28 different languages. Day 1 on the job - how is the employee supposed to identify the children that have dietary requirements? There are 40. Ask each child their name, check a list, queue growing?

Just how does it work?

[THECORBYLOON]

' But headteacher of Queen Edith Primary School said this was not the first time Ms Waldock had made a mistake over pupils' dietary requirements. Head Teacher Caroline Peet, said: 'We understand from Lunchtime UK that this was not a one off event and due to the significant number of children involved the company treated the issue with the seriousness it deserved.'. ' [The former employer said] “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.” It is clear then that the dimissal was not solely the result of a single mistake but it was the latest of a series of mistakes. As has been said, the mistake was not life-threatening but if it is an example of her inability to keep particular wee ones' needs in mind, the consequences could be life-threatening if allergies arevinvolved.

[TurkishBioHazard]

Some say what if the child was allergic to peanuts. The %*&^^$* who fired her would have given that as a reason. He just took the most easy way out to fire her. He knew that he could influence her parents and the nutjobs radical muslims. My fist really wants to say hello to his face, for letting a lot of people think its the muslim that demand her to be fired. In dutch media sites, they even say stuff like , lets put yellow moon/islam sign on every muslim to see who is or aint a muslim. Al because of her being fired and a muslim connection.

[hc4361]

What are you on about? The parents didn't want her sacked, the Muslim spokesperson has said sacking was an overreaction and there is no extremist Muslim comment demanding her sacking

[naomi24]

The mistake was noticed and the food taken away before the child got a chance to eat it, so I can't understand why the school felt it necessary to inform the parents - or why they complained. There was no harm done.

[overthetop]

I echo HC. How does it work? How is a dinner lady, dishing out maybe hundreds of dinners, expected to know each child's requirements?