An incident at an Officeworks store in Elsternwick, Melbourne, has sparked debate after a Jewish customer was allegedly refused service by a manager citing pro-Palestine views.
The recorded interaction, which has since gone viral, shows a confrontation between the customer and an Officeworks employee wearing a rainbow lanyard around her neck. When the customer requested that she laminate a newspaper article concerning Israel, the manager refused, stating, "I'm pro-Palestine." The customer responded, "That's okay, you're here to do a job of laminating."
The customer, seeking clarification, asked if this was an official Officeworks position. The manager responded, "It is an Officeworks, we have the right to deny jobs." However, when pressed further, she admitted, "No, that's my position." When asked to explain her refusal, the manager said, "I'm just not comfortable proceeding with it," referring to the article the customer wanted laminated. She added, "For political reasons, I'm not comfortable."
More proof that being "pro-Palestine" is a thinly-veiled dog-whistle for outright Jew-hatred.@Officeworks needs to terminate this employee with prejudice and send a clear message that this kind of racist and antisemitic behaviour has no place in an inclusive society https://t.co/gklCVvakAJ pic.twitter.com/uSLrwSOhcI
— Islamicide Register 🇮🇱 STANDING WITH ISRAEL (@IslamophobeReg) August 1, 2024
The exchange grew tense as the customer questioned whether politics should play a role in Officeworks' service policies. The manager insisted, "We have the right to deny," but was unable to cite specific policies when asked.
As the situation escalated, the manager asked the customer to stop recording and threatened to call the police when he refused.
According to the source, the customer has been attempting to resolve the issue privately with Officeworks and its parent company, Wesfarmers, since the incident occurred earlier this year. The company offered him a $100 gift card, but allowed the manager to keep her position, with "re-education training" implemented. The customer describes this as an "inadequate response" and has now made the incident public and taken the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Avi Yemini, a YouTube commentator, was outraged about the incident, saying, "Just imagine for a second the tables were turned, and a religious Christian, Jew, or Muslim was working behind that counter, and she walked up with the lanyard around her neck and asked to get an article about Gay Pride laminated, but the religious manager behind the counter refused service because it goes against their politics. The exact crowd who have embraced discriminating against Jews would be protesting outside every single Officeworks, demanding that the bigot be fired."
