An Officeworks manager who refused to serve a Jewish customer was also involved in another anti-Semitic incident just weeks earlier.
The manager first sparked outrage after she was filmed refusing to serve a Jewish customer at an Officeworks store in Elsternwick, in Melbourne’s east, on March 4.
The client, who was wearing a kippah, wanted to laminate an article from the Australian Jewish News newspaper.
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 manager of Officeworks refused to serve him, declaring: “I am pro-Palestine.”
The employee is understood to have later apologised and visited the Melbourne Holocaust Museum to improve his understanding of Jewish issues.
However, it can now be revealed that she had also been involved in a separate antisemitic incident just weeks earlier on January 28. The Australian reported.
The manager is believed to have told a Jewish woman that it was “impossible” to print photographs in the size she wanted “because the Jews had used all the paper.”
The manager first sparked outrage after she was filmed refusing to serve a Jewish customer at an Officeworks store in Elsternwick, in Melbourne’s east, on March 4.
Officeworks ordered him to visit the museum, which coincidentally landed the day after the second incident in March.
The customer involved in the latest scandal has lodged a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, alleging that Officeworks discriminated against her race and religion by refusing her service.
“This incident has caused my family and I significant distress and has raised concerns about whether it is safe to visit our local shops and go about our usual activities,” he said.
“No staff member intervened during the situation with the manager, and the embarrassment and harassment we experienced left a lasting impact.”
Officeworks has since apologised and said it has “taken this matter very seriously” but will not be sacking the manager.
“In this particular incident, our policies were incorrectly applied and, according to Officeworks policies, lamination should have been carried out,” an Officeworks spokesperson said.
‘In addition, we have provided ongoing training and education to our team members so that they are aware of the legal requirements regarding discrimination and Officeworks’ policies and procedures.’
Home Secretary Tony Burke has since weighed in on the matter, telling Sky News on Sunday that residents should not be “denied service because of who they are” and that he had spoken to Jillian Segal, the government’s envoy on antisemitism.
He confirmed that Ms Segal had dealt with the matter “quite directly” and that the employee had received a “formal and final warning”.
“When I look at the process that Officeworks has gone through, I see the change in perspective of that particular worker in terms of the circumstances and his depth of understanding and the good work that the anti-Semitism envoy has done,” Burke said.
The customer involved in the March incident filed a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, alleging that Officeworks discriminated against her race and religion by refusing her service.
“I think that throughout this whole process, following the horrible video that we saw, we have made progress in that long process that is so important to eradicate anti-Semitism.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Officeworks for comment on the first incident.
Footage of the second incident showed the Officeworks manager explaining that he could turn away a customer due to the store’s policies.
Officeworks clarified that this was incorrect.
“I don’t feel comfortable going ahead with this (the job),” the manager told the man.
The customer asked, “Maybe there is another staff member who would be comfortable doing this.”
The worker responded: ‘You can wait for (another staff member) and see if she’s comfortable doing it, but I know I’m not.
“I am pro-Palestine and for political reasons I do not feel comfortable.”
The customer questioned whether Officeworks’ policies gave workers the discretion to refuse service based on their personal beliefs.
Shamefully, the employee was at a loss for words to justify her position when asked to explain her actions.
“We have the right to deny jobs, because I don’t feel comfortable doing that,” she said.
‘Israel and Judaism can be completely separated.
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