Italian chef fired after refusing to put pineapple on pizza

An Italian chef sacked from a Brisbane restaurant had refused to put pineapple on a pizza because it was an "insult to his culture".

Davide Tamburella was fired from the now-closed La Costa restaurant in May, a fortnight after a meeting with management who had a string of complaints about the chef's behaviour.

Among them were Tamburella's refusal to provide ham and pineapple pizza for guests at a function. At the time, the chef had stated that any direction from management "need not be followed when it is offensive to his culture".

The details came to light after the chef went to Australia's Fair Work Commission claiming he had been unfairly dismissed.