Rude and aggressive waiter’s excuse? I was simply being French!

A WAITER sacked for being rude, aggressive and disrespectful has claimed he was simply being French.

Guillaume rey told a tribunal hearing that he was the victim of ‘discrimination against my culture’.

Bosses at Milestones, a bar and grill in vancouver, said his behaviour was so over the top that he left one colleague in tears. he was said to have been aggressive toward other staff.

Following verbal and written warnings he was dismissed in August 2016 for violating the restaurant’s code of conduct.

But Mr rey has now filed a complaint with British Columbia’s human rights tribunal. In alleging employment discrimination he said French culture ‘tends to be more direct and expressive’.

he said that he was dismissed for traits he had acquired while training in the hospitality industry in his native France. The restaurant’s bid to have his application thrown out was rejected by tribunal chief Devyn Cousineau – but she said her decision should not be seen as an indication of the case’s outcome.

‘Mr rey will have to explain what it is about his French heritage that would result in behaviour that people misinterpret as a violation of workplace standards of acceptable conduct,’ she wrote in a judgment following the hearing. Both parties agree Mr rey performed well at his job despite his apparently disagreeable behaviour to colleagues.

The French authorities have been aware of their reputation for rudeness toward foreign visitors. In 2013 the Paris Tourist Board distributed a ‘politeness manual’ for service industry workers.

In 2016 the authority also employed ‘smile ambassadors’ at the city’s main attractions in an attempt to be welcoming to tourists.