I used to work at Officeworks and the Jewish incident isn’t the first time staff have rebelled over a lamination they disagreed with…

A controversial tenants’ rights activist has spoken out in support of an Officeworks worker after she refused to serve a Jewish customer because she was pro-Palestine.

The customer, who was wearing a yarmulke at the time of the incident, took an article from the Australian Jewish News newspaper to an Officeworks store in Elsternwick, Melbourne’s east, on March 4.

The piece was entitled ‘The Indomitable Spirit of Our People’ and featured a photo of a group holding the Australian and Israeli flags.

After reading the newspaper, the Officeworks manager refused to help the Jewish man, saying, “I’m pro-Palestine.”

The confrontation ended with the employee threatening to call the police if the Jewish man did not leave the store.

Jordan van den Berg, best known for his advertising campaign for abandoned homes for Australians to live in under the social media name Purplepingers, issued a statement of support for the worker.

“I’m really proud of this manager. I’ve told this story before, but when I worked at Officeworks Hornsby, we all refused to print any material about gay marriage during the referendum,” he said.

“Customers can’t force employees to print whatever they want.”

Controversial left-wing influencer Jordan van den Berg (pictured) said he was ‘proud’ of the Officeworks manager because ‘customers can’t force employees to print whatever they want’

Mr van den Berg’s comments came just hours after Officeworks apologised for the incident but failed to fire the employee, angering the Jewish man who had been refused service.

Instead, she received “education and training,” including a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Melbourne.

“The anti-Semitic employee is still employed, which gives the impression that Officeworks condones her behaviour,” he told Sky News on Thursday.

“It seems like you can be outright anti-Semitic and still keep your job.

“I cannot understand why that would not meet the criteria for immediate removal from her position.”

Sarah Hunter, director of Officeworks, justified the company’s decision not to fire the employee.

“At the time, we concluded that the incident was due to ignorance and not malicious intent,” she said in a statement.

The Jewish man who was helped by the worker is suing him under the Equal Opportunities Act for racial and religious discrimination

Disciplinary action was taken against the team member, including a final warning, additional training and a transfer to another store.

Ms Hunter said the worker had learned from her mistake. She described the fallout from the incident as “profound” and “their remorse was deep and genuine”.

“I would like to express once again my disappointment and deep regret that the incident occurred, as it is not in line with our working methods and our values,” she said.

‘We apologized to the customer at the time. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to him again and to inform the wider community of the pain and hurt it has caused.

“We continue to work closely with our team to promote awareness, tolerance and compassion, while reiterating our expectation that the highest standards of conduct will be observed.”