Woe de parfum! Harrods fragrance vendor accuses rival of hurling card reader at her in squabble

Harrods bills its marble-lined, sixth floor ‘salon de perfums’ – famed for selling the most exclusive scents – as a ‘secluded scented nirvana’ aimed at the most discerning customer.

But when it came to staff selling the ‘hand-selected brands’, things were not as fragrant, it has been alleged.

Tempers flared between staff at rival concessions at the West End department store, according to a tribunal claim.

Natalia Pytel, who was employed by Luxe Associates, alleged that a worker at competitor brand Edeniste made ‘spiteful’ comments about the products she was selling from an adjacent desk.

Their dispute culminated when the employee – referred to only as Evie – was said to have thrown a card reader machine at Ms Pytel.

Ms Pytel complained both to Luxe Associates and Harrods – but CCTV footage was said to have shown ‘nothing untoward’.

She was then sacked by Luxe Associates after being accused of being rude to a customer.

Ms Pytel, who is Polish, brought an employment tribunal case against Harrods. She alleged unfair dismissal, detriment for making a whistleblowing public interest disclosure, and harassment under the Equality Act.

But at a preliminary hearing in London the case was struck out because a judge said her complaints had no reasonable prospect of success.

Natalia Pytel (pictured) who was employed by Luxe Associates, alleged that a worker at competitor brand Edeniste made ‘spiteful’ comments about the products she was selling from an adjacent desk

Their dispute culminated when the employee – referred to only as Evie – was said to have thrown a card reader machine at Ms Pytel who is pictured here

Ms Pytel, who is Polish, brought an employment tribunal case against Harrods. She alleged unfair dismissal, detriment for making a whistleblowing public interest disclosure, and harassment under the Equality Act

Ms Pytel accepted that Harrods hadn’t employed her, and she only had five months service with Luxe Associates– the minimum service for making an unfair dismissal claim is currently two years.

In a statement in support of her claim, Ms Pytel – who began work at the concession in February last year – said: ‘I struggled to work with one of the girls from a neighbour brand.

‘Every day she was making spiteful comments about my brands and was aggressively behaving towards me.’On June 13 she threw a PDQ card reader machine at me.

‘I felt unsafe working around her so I decided I would ask for help.’ 

After Ms Pytel spoke out, counter-claims were made against her, according to tribunal documents.She was sacked on July 24 last year.

In her claim, Ms Pytel said a manager subsequently informed her that ‘I did not fit into perfumery and was rude to a customer, therefore he decided to terminate my contract’.

She claimed that she asked a colleague to assist, but the colleague was ‘extremely rude’ to the customer and refused to process the refund he initially requested.

Ms Pytel – who represented herself – also alleged that she experienced ‘harassment and bullying’ by two shop floor managers.

However Employment Judge Jonathan Gidney threw out all her claims, pointing out that she was never directly employed by Harrods.

Her job was with the Luxe Associates concession, he stressed – but having only worked there for just over five months, she wasn’t entitled to claim unfair dismissal.

Ms Pytel complained both to Luxe Associates and Harrods – but CCTV footage was said to have shown ‘nothing untoward’ (Stock image of Harrods)

Ms Pytel’s detriment claim also fell as she had not specified what disclosure she claimed to have made in the public interest.

Finally her harassment claim was invalid as she did not specify any ‘protected characteristic’ – for example race, sex or religion – which allegedly led to her being singled out.

‘There is, simply put, no reasonable prospect of [Ms Pytel] establishing her complaints against [Harrods], and accordingly, I strike [Ms Pytel’s] claims out,’ he concluded.

Harrods and Luxe Associates were approached for comment.According to her social media profile, Ms Pytel now sells make-up at a different West End department store.

Under Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s controversial overhaul of workers’ rights, employees will be able to launch unfair dismissal claim from their first day in a job.

However companies would be able to keep new recruits on probation for up to nine months after business groups claimed the move would disincentive hiring.

Harrods and Luxe Associates were contacted for comment.