The head baker at a 300-year-old artisan bread shop in a Dorset seaside town has been awarded more than £15,000 after being sacked for making loaves with too many holes in them.
Artur Piaszczynski, who argued during an employment tribunal that bread-making was an art and not a science, lost his job after complaints that customers were struggling to make decent sandwiches with his loaves or successfully butter toast.
The tribunal ruled that Piaszczynski, who had worked at the historic Leakers Bakery in Bridport for six years, may have been producing “inconsistent” bread.
But it also concluded he had not been any specific performance targets and received no clear warnings before he was sacked.
The tribunal in Bristol heard Piaszczynski started working at Leakers in 2015 and was promoted to head baker, earning £19 an hour.
When complaints about his bread were made, the hearing was told, he was left notes by his boss, Caroline Parkins.
One read: “I have asked you many, many times to make sure there are no holes in the middle of the loaf of bread. I have explained that our customers do not like to have holes in the middle when they are trying to make a sandwich or butter toast.
“They get irritated by it and there is a chance they will stop buying our bread. I have been very patient and asked you many, many times to ensure there are no holes through the middle of the loaf.”
A pub-owner who used the bread for sandwiches complained about a “large hole” in the middle of loaves that he had bought from Leakers. In addition some of his loaves were judged too soft, others poorly risen and some of the wholemeal ones were flat.
Just before Christmas in 2021, Piaszczynski was called to a meeting without warning, provided with a Polish interpreter and sacked.
During the tribunal, Piaszczynski said not all batches of bread would have been – or could have been – perfect. He said baking was an art, not a science, and that all batches varied.
Parkins, however, argued that, although some batches would differ to some extent, good, saleable bread did not have large holes in it.
The tribunal ruled that as Piaszczynski had a poor grasp of English, writing him notes was not a sufficient way of telling him to improve.
Judge Livesey said: “In my judgment, the bakery had not done enough to make him aware that he had been issued with warnings.”
Describing itself as an artisan bakery “with a long history of providing quality bread”, Leakers was forced to shut in October 2022 amid the cost of living crisis.
