A hot headed restaurant boss who called a kitchen porter a 'donkey,' manhandled him in front of staff and treated him 'like a slave' at his steakhouse was facing a damages payout for workplace harassment today.
Gurhan Mustafa, 45, humiliated EU migrant Dimitar Dimov on a regular basis and left him with no time to wash his single-issue uniform ahead of seven-day-a-week shifts.
On one occasion, an employment tribunal heard Mr Mustafa grabbed Mr Dimov by the throat leaving him with red marks on his neck for not boiling a pan of peas.
Dimitar Dimov said he would often be called a 'f***ing Bulgarian' by Gurhan Mustafa (pictured). A colleague said their boss would swear at him Mr Dimov and call him a 'f***ing idiot' and use Turkish words that meant 'cow, donkey and gypsy'
Another time, Mr Mustafa held his employee by his shirt and pushed him against the wall whilst calling him a 'pig' and a 'f***ing idiot' after the assistant turned up for work with an open can of soft drink.
He also paid Mr Dimov less than the minimum wage and when asked why by another employee said: 'If you don't like it, pay him yourself.'
Mr Dimov left his job in November 2019 after three years, telling Mr Mustafa in a text: 'I quit. I will no longer work for you. I wish you luck. I'm sorry.' He later sued for racial discrimination.
At an employment tribunal in Croydon, south London, Turkish Cypriot father of one Mr Mustafa was found to have subjected Mr Dimov to harassment on the basis of his race and of unlawfully deducting his pay.
Mr Dimov, who spoke little English, had initially started working at Mr Mustafa's cafe Mambocino in Erith near Charing Cross in August 2016 after arriving in the UK from his native Bulgaria.
He ended up working every day at the cafe before working the evening shift next door at the Riverside Fish and Steakhouse which Mr Mustafa runs with his partner Edita Joinatyte.
Dimitar Dimov worked seven days a week, moving from the cafe in the daytime to the restaurant (pictured) for the evening. It left him with no time to wash his only uniform ahead of shifts
During his period of employment, Mr Dimov claimed he was assaulted four times and said he was 'treated like a slave' because he is Bulgarian.
He described being 'laughed at and humiliated' and said he was paid less than the national minimum wage throughout and not given holiday.
Tribunal chairman Judge Lise Burge said: 'The Claimant worked at Mambocino every day and assisted with tasks such as washing up, taking out the refuse and recycling, collecting and unpacking deliveries, food preparation and general cleaning.
'He would go and make himself food, go outside and eat to have a lunch break, but after a while Mr Mustafa would shout at him and say "why are you sitting down go and work".
'The Claimant then started to work in the evenings at Riverside Fish and Steak House which was being set up. This was a new business for Mr Mustafa and his partner Ms Joinaitis was the manager.
'Witnesses said said the Claimant worked all day at Mambocino and in the evening at Riverside. One said the Claimant worked seven days a week and would also leave work to carry out his personal tasks such as hairdressing, going to the post office and bank.
'There were hygiene issues for the Claimant as he worked all day at Mambocino and then at Riverside and he only had one Mambocino T-shirt. He did not wash it often as he did not have much time off to be able to wash.
Mr Mustafa held Dimitar Dimov by his shirt and pushed him against the wall in the cafe (pictured) whilst calling him a 'pig' and a 'f***ing idiot'
'The Claimant's evidence changed about what hours he started and finished, although he consistently said that he worked all the time. There were a few rare occasions when he would not work on a day.
'The tribunal found the Claimant worked seven days a week at Mambocino for five hours a day on average with his start and end times ranging from 7am- 6.30pm. He would then go and
