But the managing director of the restaurant told the Employment Appeals Tribunal that, in addition to being late for work on numerous occasions, he had to give "strong" verbal warnings to Khaeafy about the level of cleanliness and hygiene at his work station.

"The company had three or four visits from the Eastern Health Board who said that the preparation area was disgusting, " the managing director told the tribunal.

This was of great concern to the restaurant, he said.

The situation came to a head during lunchtime one day in November 2005 when the managing director noticed that the chef 's work station was "completely unhygienic". The kitchen of the restaurant is an open area and customers can see directly into it, so he told the chef to "get the sweeping brush and sweep up the floor".

But Khaeafy started shouting back in his native language, in front of all the customers, the managing director told the tribunal. It was lunch hour and there were 60 people in the restaurant so the managing director decided to leave the chef to finish working the lunch hour. But once the rush was over, he gave Khaeafy a written letter of dismissal and told him he was giving him two weeks' notice as was his due.

The managing director said, however, that following a discussion with the head chef and manager of the restaurant, it was decided to give Khaeafy a second chance but only if his hygiene standards improved significantly. But he said that before the two-week notice period expired, Khaeafy "disappeared" and he was told that he had gone to another job.

Khaeafy told the tribunal that, prior to his dismissal after almost two years working in the restaurant, he "was never told that he or his work station was dirty."

He said that he did not believe that the restaurant was unhappy with his work. He did say under cross-examination, however, that the company would tell him if a health inspector was due to call.

He denied that he had been offered his job back and said that he did not get another job until four months after being sacked by Pizza Stop.

The chairman of the tribunal noted that, while there was conflicting evidence given, he preferred the evidence presented by the restaurant, and dismissed Khaeafy's claim.