Man accused of eating ‘smelly’ lunch dismissed after taking company to court

A Pretoria-based law firm employee, who took his employer to court for allegedly ordering him to eat outside because his meal smelled bad, has been fired recently for informing the authorities and the media about the alleged abuse.

The squabble between David Moetji, a law student from Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, and Mark Efstratiou, the owner of a law firm Mark Efstratiou Incorporated, started last year after Efstratiou reportedly instructed him to eat outside because other employees complained about his “smelly” food.

According to the documents seen by The Citizen, Moetjie, who was employed as a messenger at the firm, was found guilty of gross “misconduct and/ gross dishonesty in that during February 2025 you made misleading, untruthful, defamatory and disparaging remarks to the media about the director of the firm, which has brought the name of the firm into disrepute with the public and created a perception that the director of the company is oppressive and discriminates against his employees”.

He was also found guilty of trying to extort money from his employer by using frivolous and vexatious litigation in both the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) as well as the Equality Court.

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In an interview with The Citizen on Friday, Moetjie said he was worried about his dismissal because he was a breadwinner.

“Dismissal is bad, especially when you are dismissed for exercising your right. It affected me in that I now have no income. Apart from my family, I have extended family members I must take care of. I need to pay for my university fees. I will be unable to do all these like I used to.”

Despite this, he is determined to continue his legal battle.

“I will not rest until I get justice and be able to move on with my life,” said Moetjie.

The case of unfair dismissal and that of unfair discrimination that he opened when he was still employed will be heard at the CCMA on a date that will be announced soon. The unfair discrimination case was also registered in the Equality Court where Moetjie is suing Efstratiou for R 500 000.

“The reason I am taking all these steps is because my rights as a person were undermined and they made me feel like a pig when instructing me not to eat inside the premises. When he called me to his office and told me that people had been complaining about my meal, I asked him to tell me about the kind of food he was referring to, but he could not specify. Instead, he told me not to eat inside the premises.”

When contacted, Efstratiou said, “I will comment when the court proceedings have been finalised.”

He previously stated in court papers that he only informed Moetjie that there were certain meals that he ate which made the entire office smell of food when warmed in the microwave. “Some of his meals should be eaten outside because they did not have a canteen inside the office.”

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