Marco Pierre White’s chef son Luciano is sued for £10 of overtime wages by waitress who didn’t get paid for her extra shifts at his restaurant

• Alicia Lourenço sued Luciano after working a trial shift at his Woking restaurant  

Marco Pierre White’s son has been successfully sued for £10 of overtime wages by a waitress who was not paid for carrying out extra work at one of his restaurants. 

Luciano Pierre White, who like his celebrity father is also a chef, was taken to an employment tribunal by Alicia Lourenço. 

It comes after Ms Lourenço went unpaid for months following a trial shift at Luciano’s restaurant in Woking, Surrey. in April 2022. 

She claimed she did extra hours and that when she went to confront her bosses about the outstanding overtime payment, they became aggressive and called her ‘crazy’, insisting she would not get paid. 

Ms Lourenço told the hearing in Reading: ‘It’s not about the money. It’s about the way they have treated me and the way they made me feel. It’s about the trauma.

Luciano Pierre White, pictured right with his father Marco, was taken to an employment tribunal by a waitress who claimed she had not been paid for working extra hours at his Woking restaurant in April 2022 

‘It’s very sad when somebody sees you as lesser than them because of your skin colour or the job that you do.’

She added: ‘I want these people to know that it’s not because they are celebrities – or whatever they think they are – that they have a right to treat other people like that.’

The claimant told tribunal judge Emily Bennett that she repeatedly attempted to speak with the manager about her pay. 

Ms Lourenço said: ‘All the manager would tell me was “please be patient, they will pay you”. I would tell him “okay, I trust you”. However, nothing has been done, nobody ever called me and nothing happened.

‘Whenever I called and asked to speak to the manager, I would deal with a different lady I did not know, who claimed to be the manager. She would repeat to me “I’m busy, I’m busy”.’

Ms Lourenço told the hearing she eventually decided to confront her bosses directly by going back to the Luciano’s restaurant on June 21, 2022 – over a month after her wages were due.

She said: ‘I stood at the bar and just waited for them to speak to me – but nobody talked to me. They were ignoring me.’

She then claimed she was told she would not be paid. Following this, she approached the police, who advised her to take the matter to court. 

Alicia Lourenço claimed she had worked extra hours during a trial shift at Luciano’s restaurant in Woking, Surrey (pictured) in April 2022 

Judge Bennett, delivering her decision on the matter, said: ‘I find that there has been a breach of contract which took place on June 21, which is when Ms Lourenço realised she was not going to get paid what she was owed by Luciano’s restaurant.’

Charles Hawkins, who attended the hearing by CVP on behalf of Luciano’s restaurants and Mr Luciano Pierre White, said: ‘Anyone working at Luciano’s has no recollection of the claimant. There was no evidence or record of her having a contract with us.’

However, Mr Hawkins could not say anymore on behalf of Pierre White or Luciano’s restaurants as they had not engaged with the court proceedings at all since they began in September last year.

Judge Bennett said: ‘This means that this court hearing can proceed without anything from the respondent.’

She ordered Luciano’s restaurant to pay Ms Lourenço £30 – three times the amount she was owed within the next seven days.

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