According to an employment tribunal in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a mother and father were browsing in the jewellery department of the Corte Ingles with their seven-year-old daughter when the mother spied the perfect Santa gift for her husband.

She surrepticously asked the shop assistant to put the gentleman’s watch to one side so she could buy it later but the worker approached the little girl and told her to “take your father to the perfume department so your mother can buy him a watch for Christmas”.

According to the court’s sentence, the child apparently immediately told her father, therefore ruining the surprise.

But more importantly she apparently expressed confusion and dismay to learn that it was her mother buying Christmas gifts that were supposed to be brought in Santa’s sack.

The incident, which took place in December 2015, led to a complaint to the manager over the assistant’s “disrespectful and malicious attitude”, and brought about her dismissal.

She had previously had several warnings about “her attitude” including over an incident when she chastised a family shopping for gifts on Christmas Eve telling them not to buy gifts on Christmas Eve with the “reminder” that in Spain, it is the Kings and not Santa Claus who brings the presents.

READ MORE: Why Spain loves the Three Kings more than Santa

The woman, who had been employed at the Corte Ingles since 2005, had been given official warnings on numerous previous occasions for showing a lack of respect towards colleagues, bosses and customers, according to the employment court sentence.

But it was her ‘Bah Humbug’ attitude at Christmas that finally led to her dismissal.