Burleigh Baker owner Geoffrey Dance pursues legal action against former employee Lucy Davis
A row between a top Gold Coast bakery and an ex-apprentice is on the rise. Read what happened and why it’s heading for the courts.
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A row between a top Gold Coast bakery which rejects claims made by an ex-apprentice is on the rise.
Burleigh Baker has launched an internal investigation after the claims were aired on social media by former staffer Lucy Davis against the owner and company.
On Wednesday, Burleigh Baker said via statement it was taking legal action against 21-year-old Ms Davis after she shared a video to her Instagram making allegations against Burleigh Baker owner Geoffrey Dance.
The Burleigh Baker statement said all the allegations which were made in the video by Ms Davis, 21, were “completely untrue” and was “seriously damaging” to his reputation.
Ms Davis’ now-deleted video was shared to Ms Davis’s business account, Burnt Croissants, on Saturday, July 6.
Ms Davis said she made the video to share how she secured the money to open her first commercial kitchen, Burnt Croissants, in June.
She prefaced the video with: “Burleigh Baker denies everything I’m about to say”.
The Bulletin has chosen not to repeat the claims she made in the video.
“In September last year, I started a bakers apprenticeship at Burleigh Baker,” she said.
Ms Davis alleged two incidents happened in her first three weeks of working at the store.
Ms Davis said she took the complaint to the Fair Work Commission after “thinking about the incident every day”.
“I took Burleigh Baker and Geoffrey Dance specifically into a conference through Fair Work, involving a judge and lawyers,” she claimed.
The Fair Work Commission declined to comment to the Bulletin when asked about the matter because of their “strict privacy policy in relation to certain matter types”.
Without providing any written evidence of the purported settlement agreement, Ms Davis claimed she received a $30,000 settlement and the guarantee every employee at the business would undergo further workplace relations training.
“That $30,000 has led me to make this commercial kitchen and pursue my passion,” she said.
In a statement made by Burleigh Baker on Wednesday, they said all of the allegations were found to be untrue
“The safety, wellbeing and respect of our employees is paramount to us,” it said.
“Following the accusations, an internal review was conducted and found these claims to be untrue and no evidence was discovered that supported these claims.”
The statement said they were pursuing legal action to “rectify the damage that has been endured by the business”.
“Burleigh Baker has afforded Ms Davis the opportunity to share a retraction of her untrue statements and she has made the decision to decline,” it said.
“We look forward to resolving this matter in time and moving past this challenging period which has been distressing for all involved.”
The Burleigh Baker statement said it endeavoured to maintain a safe workplace environment.
“Any allegations of misconduct are addressed with the utmost seriousness and investigated thoroughly as we take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and respectful workplace where no individual is above the law.”
After approaching Ms Davis for comment, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers media manager Paddy Murphy said “we’ve got no comment”.
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