harper even fires the cook

hired help gets fired from $57,000 salaried employment ...

Fired chef sues PM for $250Gs
Man who also babysat Harper kids let go on election day

CP OTTAWA -- Stephen Harper is being sued by his former chef, who also claims the prime minister never paid him for babysitting duties, washing the family car and burying one of Harper's pet cats.

Henrik Lundsgaard, who was employed at Stornoway -- the Opposition leader's residence -- for more than four years, is seeking $250,000 for lost wages, emotional trauma and damage to his reputation.

He alleges Harper and his wife, Laureen, led him to believe he would become the head chef at 24 Sussex Drive if the Conservatives came to power. Instead, Mr. Lundsgaard was served with a letter of dismissal on Jan. 23, the day of Harper's electoral victory.

Lundsgaard said he went shopping for the Harper family's groceries at an Ottawa Loblaws that morning. When he returned, Stornoway's household manager handed him a brown envelope.

"The letter said my services were no longer needed," Lundsgaard told the Ottawa Citizen. "I was in shock because nothing led up to this. I felt I had gone above and beyond any expectations of my performance."

A statement of claim was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday naming Harper and his wife as defendants in the suit. It describes the Harpers' dismissal of the chef as "insulting, high-handed, spiteful, malicious and oppressive" and claims the family didn't give Lundsgaard reasonable notice of termination.

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman from the Prime Minister's Office, called the dismissal a "staffing issue" and refused to elaborate.

Lundsgaard said he has lost weight and slept poorly since being fired. His Stornoway salary was $57,000 and he's been unable to find comparable work.

The chef's lawyer, Richard Bosada, said his client has sought psychiatric counselling.

"Mr. Lundsgaard is quite distraught by all this because of the relationship he thought he had with the Harpers," Bosada said yesterday. "He was broadsided by this. He thought his job was secure. He's been in shock."

Lundsgaard moved to Canada from Copenhagen in 1987. He worked as head chef at the Danish Embassy and as private chef to the British High Commissioner before being hired by former Opposition leader Stockwell Day in 2001.