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A Jewish man who was refused service by a “pro-Palestine” employee at Officeworks has branded her “blatantly anti-Semitic” and wants her sacked.
The customer, who was wearing a kippah at the time of the incident, brought an article from the Australian Jewish News newspaper into an Officeworks store in Elsternwick, in Melbourne’s east, on March 4.
The piece was titled ‘The Indomitable Spirit of Our People’ and featured a photo of a group holding Australian and Israeli flags.
After seeing the paper, the Officeworks manager refused to serve the Jewish man, stating: “I am pro-Palestine.”
The confrontation ended with the employee threatening to call the police if the Jewish man did not leave the store.
The Jewish man wrote a letter to Officeworks shortly after the confrontation.
They offered her a $100 gift card and promised that the company would investigate the issue.
She has since lodged a complaint against Officeworks with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and is suing under the Equal Opportunity Act for racial and religious discrimination.
In March, an Officeworks manager refused to serve a Jewish man because he wanted to laminate an article that mentioned Israel and she was “pro-Palestine.”
The man described feeling “vilified” by the manager and said he was “a target of anti-Semitism.”
What adds to their pain is the apparent lack of action by Officeworks in response to the incident.
Officeworks has since apologised but has not fired the manager.
Instead, he received “education and training,” including a visit to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.
“The anti-Semitic employee is still employed today, which would make it appear that Officeworks condones her behaviour,” he told Sky News on Thursday.
‘It seems as if one can be openly anti-Semitic and still keep one’s job.
“I cannot understand how that would not meet the criteria for immediate dismissal from office.”
Officeworks managing director Sarah Hunter justified the company’s decision not to fire the worker.
“At the time, we concluded that the incident was related to ignorance and not malice,” he said in a statement.
‘Disciplinary measures were implemented with the team member, including a final warning, additional training and relocation to a different store.
Ms Hunter said the worker had learned from her mistake and described the effect of the incident as “profound” and “her remorse was profound and genuine”.
“Once again, I express my disappointment and deep regret for the incident that occurred, as it does not reflect our way of working or our values,” he said.
‘We apologized to the customer at the time and I take this opportunity to reiterate our apologies and extend them to the wider community for the harm and inconvenience we have caused.
“We will continue to work closely with our team to promote awareness, tolerance and compassion, while reiterating our expectation that the highest standards of conduct be maintained.”
Officeworks has refused to sack the manager, instead sending her on “education and training”, including a visit to Melbourne’s Holocaust Museum.
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