A restaurant manager has been awarded £21,000 in compensation after she protested about ‘unbearably hot’ working conditions.

Temperatures at PF Chang’s Asian Table in Great Newport Street, London would routinely soar to 43°C, an employment tribunal heard.

Alice Bailey said she was told to ‘get used to it’ when she complained to bosses about the heat.

A faulty air condition system had led to the sudden rise in temperature, which caused sweat to be ‘dropping off people’s faces’, the tribunal was told.

One diner was forced to dash outside for fresh air where she fainted on the pavement.

Other customers would even vomit due to the conditions, the tribunal heard.

Ms Bailey started working at PF Chang’s Great Newport Street branch in July 2017 and became general manager in January 2019.

The restaurant is owned by the Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, and operated by London-based Diverse Dining.

Ms Bailey first raised concerns about the stifling heat in 2018 but was told ‘nothing will be done so it’s better to get used to it’.

Two years later, she emailed Alshaya’s business director to complain about faulty electrical sockets, a broken walk-in fridge and a malfunctioning phone.

She also highlighted the intense temperatures and the fact both staff and customers were struggling to cope.

Two days after the email, Ms Bailey was told her she was being made redundant due to the financial impact caused by the pandemic.

The devastated Londoner took her case to an employment tribunal.

She explained she felt she was ‘targeted’ because she had voiced concerns about the restaurant.

Employment Judge Jeremy Burns ruled in her favour, and said: ‘[Diverse Dining] has not satisfied me there was a genuine redundancy situation.

‘No real financial information has been produced except by [Ms Bailey], which shows that despite the problems caused by equipment and by the pandemic, the restaurant performed much better than expected from July 2020 onwards.

‘What happened […] was therefore nothing other than [Diverse Dining] seeking to justify and gift-wrap a dismissal decision rather than carry out genuine consultation before the decision was made.

‘The poor refrigeration and lack of air-conditioning did pose a real health and safety concern which [Ms Bailey] had a reasonable belief about and was communicating to her managers in good faith and in the public interest.’

Mr Burns added bosses ‘turned a blind eye’ to serious health and safety risks ‘they had been and were unwilling to deal with effectively.’

Ms Bailey was awarded £21,563.03 in compensation.

The Alshaya Group and Diverse Dining have been contacted by Metro.co.uk for additional comment.

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