Disneyland Paris worker sacked for 'refusing to add toppings to waffles'

Loris Taboureau, 20, claims his dismissal was a pretext to sack him because he had helped lead a strike at the park

Loris Taboureau was dismissed from his job at Disneyland Paris. Getty Images
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Disneyland Paris sacked a strike leader after guests complained he “nonchalantly” refused to add whipped cream, Nutella and marshmallows to their waffles, according to reports.

Loris Taboureau, 20, was dismissed after the complaint, which was prompted after he refused to add all three toppings to their waffle, as he had for customers ahead of them in the queue.

Instead, he gave them a choice between the Nutella and cream, Le Parisien newspaper reported.

When the visitors asked why they could not also have all three too, he replied saying: “They are my pals” in what they described as a nonchalant tone.

The customers are described as having “enormous difficulty accepting the incident”, which Disneyland Paris claimed had damaged its image in a letter sent to Mr Taboureau.

Mr Taboureau said while he did give whipped cream to some people and not others, it was a special treat for his colleagues and not officially on the menu.

“If I had given cream to the whole queue, I would have been reprimanded,” he said. “I did not use a nonchalant tone.”

He claims Disneyland used the incident as a pretext to sack him because he had helped lead industrial action this year when employees went on strike and held protest marches in an attempt to obtain a €2,400 annual pay rise.

A total of five strike leaders have been issued with dismissal notices on what they say are false premises.

More than 18,000 people have signed a petition in their support, according to the report.

Le Parisien quoted Mr Taboureau as saying: “The management is seeking to scare us and to take revenge after May’s anti-inflation movement.”

Disneyland Paris told the newspaper: “We do not comment on internal procedures related to individual situations.”

France has been rocked by repeated strikes this summer, primarily related to President Emmanuel Macron's plan to raise the pension age and affecting many sectors.

Updated: August 21, 2023, 1:50 PM