Overview
- On 20 May 2026 La Costa in Fortitude Valley dismissed chef Davide Tamburella after a performance meeting that flagged repeated conduct and performance concerns.
- Tamburella told the commission he refused to place pineapple on pizza because he saw it as "an insult to his culture," and court records say this was the third such refusal in four years.
- The Fair Work Commission rejected his unfair‑dismissal application as lodged 28 days late, so it declined to decide whether the firing was substantively justified.
- Following the dismissal the restaurant withdrew support for his employer‑sponsored subclass 186 permanent‑residence application, leaving the visa process stalled and requiring a restart.
- La Costa later closed and Tamburella appears to have taken a new Brisbane job at a restaurant without pineapple on the menu, a case that spotlights clashes between culinary tradition, workplace rules and immigration sponsorship rules.