Gordon Ramsay has laid off more than 500 of his staff after temporarily closing his London restaurants due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chefs, waiters and other staff were called to a meeting and told their contracts were being terminated.
Each staff member was later sent an email telling them they would be paid up to April 17th – but no guarantee that they would get their job back when the restaurants re-open.
Chef Anac Torpuc branded the celebrity chef a ‘piece of ‘s***’ for his decision.
The 28-year-old told MailOnline: ‘All of us have worked so hard for Gordon Ramsay and he has just got rid of us when we needed his support the most.
Chef Anac Torpuc (pictured on right) has slammed Gordon Ramsay after he laid off more than 500 of his staff due to the coronavirus outbreak
Ms Toropu took to Facebook to say that it was a shame that the company that she had worked for was terminating her position
‘Many of the staff were left in tears at the way he has treated us. There was no warning. We were summoned to a meeting and told our contracts were being terminated. It was so brutal.
‘Staff from each of the restaurants were summoned to the Heddon Street restaurant where they were given the news. It was so awful and so many were in tears.’
Another staff member, who asked not to be named, said:’ It just stinks that we have been let go. We all hope that this will pass and we can return to work, but there are many who will never work for Ramsay again. His behaviour is disgusting.’
Ramsay, who has an estimated personal fortune of over £140million, laid off his staff just a day after he paid tribute to them in an Instagram post.
Announcing his 12 restaurants were closing he wrote: ‘Huge love and thanks to our amazing staff across the restaurants for their passion and support.’
His decision to terminate 500 workers flies in the face of appeals by the Government to keep workers on during the crisis.
A message of Gordon Ramsay’s Instagram page announced that the chef’s London restaurants would be closing
The Government have offered to fund laid off workers with 80 per cent of their salary up to a maximum of £2,500 while businesses remain closed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Anac worked at the Bread Street kitchen as a chef de partie.
In a social media post she expressed her disgust at the world-famous chef known for his explosive temper, TV shows and celebrity friends, including the Beckhams.
She wrote: ‘Such a shame to see how the company that you worked for and gave everything you had for 2 years throw you away like you are nothing but a little piece of s***, specially in difficult times like this even though they have absolutely nothing to lose by keeping you.
‘And I’m not taking about one person here, over 500 people lost their jobs yesterday so all I can say is thank you @gordongram @gordonramsayrestaurants I hope you sleep well at night knowing that so many people doesn’t have a job in this difficult time because of you.’
In one termination sent by Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, the company said the employee would be paid four weeks notice
Anac, who is from Romania, said she would never work for Ramsay again when the restaurants are allowed to open.
‘I have worked hard for him for the past two years, and this is how I am rewarded. It is not fair, but that doesn’t worry him.’
MailOnline has seen one of the emails sent to staff informing them they are no longer required.
It reads: ‘I am writing to confirm that you have been given notice that your contract of employment will be terminated and you will be paid four weeks notice. You will be placed on garden leave for the duration of your notice.
‘Your P45, final holiday pay and any other monies owing will be forwarded to you in due course.’
The email goes on to say that in this difficult time support is available through the company’s assistance programme.
Ramsay’s restaurants in London include Petrus, The Savoy Grill, Bread Street Kitchen and Heddon Street kitchen.
He also runs restaurants in Las Vegas, Baltimore and Atlantic City in New Jersey. As those cities are in lockdown with all restaurants closed it is believed staff have been issued with similar termination notices.
The chef’s flagship restaurant In London, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, has three Michelin stars.
A spokesman for Gordon Ramsay Restaurants said: ‘Gordon Ramsay Restaurants is continuing to work tirelessly in exceptional, unprecedented, global circumstances to ensure that as many employees as possible are being retained by the business.
‘We are no different from any other restaurant/retail business large and small in the UK and around the world responding to the current crisis.
‘We welcome greatly and fully support all the initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak in particular the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which is still being refined.
‘We continue to work closely with our landlords, government agencies and all third party suppliers associated with the business through these very challenging times.’