Top Chef Canada runner-up sues Hawksworth group over chef's bonus

A celebrated local chef and Top Chef Canada runner-up is suing one of the most well-known, fine dining restaurant groupsin Vancouver, claiming he hasn't been paid the fullbonusthey agreed uponafter he appeared on the show.

Phil Scarfone, theformer head chef at Hawksworth's livelyNightingale restaurant, filed the lawsuit against the company in Vancouver provincial court on Friday.

The court documents allegeHawksworth fired Scarfonenearly two years ago and shorted him tens of thousands of dollars on hisbonus.

"That refusal and Hawksworth's purported termination of the annual bonus is in breach of the bonus agreement and was done in bad faith," the lawsuit says.

None of the allegations has been proven and the company has not yet filed a response in court.

Top Chef Canada appearance

Scarfone hadbeen with the Hawksworth group for eight years beforehe appeared on the Food Network's Top Chef Canada competition.

Already an established chef by his 20s, Scarfonejoined the group in 2011 and "played a significant role"in crafting recipes and opening the elite Hawksworth Restaurant that June, according to the court documents.

He worked under David Hawksworth, a mentor and one of the most recognizable names in Vancouver's upscale culinary scene.

It was Hawksworthwho chose Scarfoneto lead the kitchen atNightingale a new, more casual venture when it opened in the industrial Marine Building near the financial district in 2016, the lawsuit claims.

ScarfoneappearedonTop Chef Canada's seventh season in 2018. Fourteen contestants from across the country competed against each other in culinary challenges for a top prize of $100,000.

He placed second, losing only to fellow B.C.-based chef Paul Moran.

Back at Nightingale, according to the lawsuit,Scarfone negotiated a new bonus in January 2019 because of the "considerable" publicity he would bringto the restaurant and the companyby being on the show.

He allegeshe and the companyagreed the bonus would include$15,000 a year and$3,750 per quarterif Nightingaledid better than expected.

Scarfone said they also agreed to a specific"annual bonus"10 per cent of the difference when the food and beverage revenue was higher thanwhat they'd budgeted for the year.

He would be eligible for the bonus everyJan. 1, Scarfone claims in the court documents.

Scarfone fired after already resigning: lawsuit

Eleven months after making the deal,Scarfone resigned from Nightingale.

He said he gave six weeks notice and said his last day would be Jan. 15, 2020.

But at 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, half an hour before Scarfone became eligible for his bonus, he claims Hawksworth emailed him a memo saying the"annual bonus" had been included in theagreement by mistake.

Scarfone said he was fired two days later, even though he'd already resigned.

"Hawksworth does not have the right to terminate the annual bonus," the lawsuit says. "The manner of Hawksworth's exercise of the termination clause ... was in breach of Hawksworth's duty to act honestly."

The chef's last day at Nightingale stayed the same.

The claim said Scarfonewas paid the first two parts of his bonus, but not the annual bonus.

It doesn't say exactly how much it would've been worth the 10 per cent can only be calculated with proprietary information on Nightingale's revenue in 2019 but Scarfone is asking for the maximum amount of money that can be awarded in small claims court in B.C.

He has claimed $35,000 for breach of contract.