A Wetherspoons manager who was sacked for giving a member of kitchen staff a 50 per cent discount on food was unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has said.

Peter Castagna-Davies was dismissed from his role as bar shift manager at The Pontlottyn in Monmouthshire, Wales, despite having a "clean" record throughout the more than 20 years he worked for the pub chain.

On January 31, 2024, Mr Castagna-Davies processed two portions of halloumi fries, two portion of chicken breasts and two cans of Monster energy drink for kitchen worker Noah Gardiner and applied a 50 per cent staff discount.

If the discount was not applied, the food and drink would have cost around £29.

Staff at the pub are able to choose one food item from the menu and one soft drink to have for free during their shift, with the option to purchase extras such as side orders at half price.

Workers were informed this food had to be processed at the till by the employee it was intended for and not for colleagues, friends or family.

Mr Castagna-Davies said he was "not aware" that two minutes before he processed the food and drink, Mr Gardiner had also used the pub manager's till key to process another free meal for himself - chicken breast bites and a can of Monster Punch.

The employment tribunal heard there had recently been a "crackdown" on the 50 per cent discount at the pub because "staff had been caught taking food home to feed their whole family".

An employment tribunal found Peter Castagna-Davies had been unfairly dismissed by his employer JD Wetherspoon

Peter Castagna-Davies had worked for JD Wetherspoon since 2002

Wetherspoons ruled that the long-standing worker had broken company policy by allowing Mr Gardiner to process "excessive products" on the 50 per cent rate, and he was dismissed without notice.

Chris Jenkins, who led the disciplinary hearing, wrote: "Shortly before (8.02pm) you processed Noah’s 50 per cent on shift discount he had processed through the till his own staff feeding meal some two hours after his break when he had consumed it which you had no knowledge of him doing so or even going on his break.

"I find this both worrying and surprising that, as the Duty Manager with so few staff to manage on the shift in question, you had no knowledge or control over what was going on."

Mr Castagna-Davies appealed against his dismissal, but the decision was upheld.

Peter Castagna-Davies was dismissed after processing food and drink at a discount for a kitchen worker

Employment Tribunal Judge Rachel Harfield however concluded he was unfairly dismissed.

She said it was not reasonable to conclude his actions were "gross incompetence or gross negligence as opposed to being simple negligence that falls within the misconduct category of the respondent’s policy".

"He was an employee with long service and a clear disciplinary record, Judge Harfield stated.

"The decision to uphold the dismissal at the appeal stage was not within the reasonable range.

"In my judgement that rendered the whole dismissal unfair. The appeal stage is a very important stage as it is the last chance to get things right from either party’s perspective."