Coles and Woolies pizza supplier ordered to pay $53,000 for harassment
A Coles and Woolies pizza supplier has been ordered to pay $53,000 to a worker who was sexually harassed.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) also found the woman had been subjected to race discrimination and victimisation.
Coles and Woolies pizza supplier ordered to pay for harassment
Della Rosa Fresh Foods supplies pizza products and baked goods to Coles, Woolworths and IGA.
Sudesh Kumari worked in the bakery section of the company’s Melbourne-based factory.
She claimed that in 2017 a fellow worker looked at her breasts rather than her face when speaking to her.
Ms Kumari told VCAT the conduct made her feel “uncomfortable, objectified and degraded”.
Tribunal member Louise Johnson said in her order:
“Any reasonable person would have anticipated that Ms Kumari would be offended, humiliated or intimidated if a male fellow worker stared at her breasts rather than her face when he talked with her.
“Even in cultures where direct eye gaze is itself disrespectful, it is never the correct response to direct one’s gaze at a woman’s breasts.”
‘I don’t like Indians’
The worker reported the incident but said her immediate manager dismissed her complaint and made racist remarks.
In her order, Ms Johnson said:
“Ms Kumari’s immediate manager … treated Ms Kumari unfavourably due to her race when he said to her, ‘You are Indian, I don’t like Indians, they always cause problems’.”
The worker reported the incident but said her immediate manager dismissed her complaint and made racist remarks. Picture: iStock & dellarosa.com.au
Ordered to take leave
Following her report of sexual harassment, Kumari said management told her to take annual leave, even though she said she was saving it to visit family in India.
Her time off work felt like a punishment, she said, triggering headaches and anxiety that made her feel “sad, like a sick person”.
After the complaint, the company transferred Kumari from the bakery site to the pizza-topping site which is “predominantly staffed by women”.
But when she returned from leave, she said she did not wish to shift, refused to accept the transfer and did not return to work.
The company terminated her employment in February 2018 – a month after she filed a complaint in the Fair Work Commission.
Company asked for $500 penalty
Tribunal member Louise Johnson accepted Kumari’s evidence and rejected Della Rosa’s submission that any penalty should not exceed $500.
“I consider that an award of $500 in damages would trivialise the conduct complained of,” Johnson said.
Instead, she ordered the company pay:
- $38,000 in general damages;
- more than $14,000 for Kumari’s partial loss of earnings; and
- almost $1100 for loss of superannuation.
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No excuse for sexual harassment
Meanwhile, employment lawyer Stephen Dryley-Collins said there is no excuse for sexual harassment.
“The behaviour of this worker’s colleague engaged in is appalling and also unlawful – and completely unacceptable in a modern workplace,” he said.
“And to make matters worse, management victimised her when she complained by forcing her to take leave.
“The $500 penalty the company requested was never going to fly with the tribunal.
“Courts and tribunals no longer tolerate this sort of behaviour, and companies that allow it will find themselves hit with huge financial penalties.”
Mr Dryley-Collins advised anyone who has experienced sexual harassment to seek urgent expert advice from a qualified employment lawyer.
Main picture: Fertnig/iStock
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