Hotel Du Vin restaurant boss suspended after being struck by customer

Apr 15 2010 by Paul Suart, Birmingham Mail

THE manager of an exclusive Birmingham hotel restaurant who was assaulted by a regular customer was suspended while his attacker was offered a free meal, a tribunal heard.

Polish national Mieczyslaw Ratayczyk, who worked at the Hotel Du Vin, was struck across the face by a man angry at the wait for his dinner.

A witness to the incident in the plush hotel’s packed main restaurant said it was a “hefty punch” and said the disgruntled diner compared it unfavourably to McDonald’s, the tribunal at Phoenix House, Birmingham, was told.

Mr Ratayczyk, 28, claims the way the attack was treated and his lack of support from hotel management forced him to quit.

He is now attempting to sue his former employer for constructive dismissal and racial discrimination.

But the hotel is claiming Mr Ratayczyk was motivated by trying to secure a payout.

Continued...