Jewish man who was refused service at Officeworks issues a blunt message to pro-Palestine employee

A Jewish man who was refused employment at Officeworks by a “pro-Palestine” employee has criticised her as “blatantly anti-Semitic” and wants her fired.

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 titled ‘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.

Shortly after the confrontation, the Jewish man wrote a letter to Officeworks.

He was offered a $100 gift card and promised that the company would investigate the matter.

He has since filed a complaint against Officeworks with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, suing the company under the Equal Opportunities Act for discrimination on the grounds of race and religion.

The man said he felt “slandered” by the manager and that he was a “target of anti-Semitism.”

What hurts him even more is Officeworks’ lack of action following the incident.

Officeworks has since apologized, but has not fired the manager.

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.

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.”