RACE - CASE STUDIES

Race Discrimination in Accommodation

A Torres Strait Islander man alleged he was told a property was taken when he visited a real estate office. He phoned his sister from the car to check its availability. When she phoned back to say the house was still vacant, he asked her to check a second time. However, when he immediately re-entered the real estate office the property was still unavailable.

He was very upset as he had an exemplary rental record but thought he was not even considered because of his race. The respondents were unable to field a satisfactory explanation. The matter settled for $3000.

Race Discrimination in Work

An Aboriginal man lodged a complaint against his employer and three fellow workers. The complainant overheard a conversation in their meal break that was extremely derogatory to Aboriginal women. Racist comments about sporting teams were also made in his presence. The man complained to his employer.

Because the complainant felt he could no longer work with the three men the employer moved him to a different location. The position to which he was moved became redundant shortly after he arrived and the employer would not find him an alternative position. The employer denied any liability.

At the conciliation conference the employer admitted that the workers who had made the comments had not been made aware of the company’s discrimination policies. They agreed to pay the complainant compensation and provide an apology as well as instigate a better induction process. The employees offered to provide a written apology.

Race Discrimination

An Aboriginal woman lodged a complaint against the Chair of a local organisation. The details of the complaint were of a very sensitive nature. The respondent denied all of the allegations. The lodgement of the complaint caused disquiet in the small community where the respondent, and many of the complainant’s family lived. The parties declined to participate in a face to face conciliation conference.

The Commission staff conducted a "shuttle " conciliation by travelling back and forth between the respondent’s community and the town where the complainant lived, and successfully assisted the parties to reach agreement, the terms of which remain confidential. The case was a good example of the Commission’s flexibility in altering its usual process to suit the social and cultural circumstances of the parties.

Race Discrimination in Work

The complainant was a man who arrived in Australia as a refugee from El Salvador in 1984. The complainant alleged race discrimination during his ten month employment as a labourer in a manufacturing business. He claimed that his supervisor would call him highly offensive names on a daily basis, would become impatient or make fun of the complainant’s English language skills, and generally treated him less favourably than other workers. The complainant raised his concerns with his employer, who did little to remedy the situation. The complainant claims he resigned his employment following racial harassment by his supervisor.

At the conciliation conference the supervisor provided an emotional apology to the complainant acknowledging that he had treated the complainant unfairly. Although the company wished for the complainant to return to their employment, the complainant accepted a later offer of $12,500 compensation and an apology for the hurt and humiliation experienced by him.

Race Discrimination in Provision of Goods and Services

A group of Aboriginal women alleged differential treatment by the owner of a sporting centre. The complainants formed a group to partake in a sporting activity arranged by the sporing centre. A few weeks into the program the respondent approached one of the women to state that an incident occurred in which one of the complainants was alleged to have been rude to another non-Aboriginal patron. The respondent told the group that because of this incident they all would not be allowed back into the sporting centre, even though one of the group had not been present on the day of the incident.

The complainant, who was alleged to have been rude to the non-Aboriginal patron, denied the allegation and asked the respondent to arrange for her to speak to the non-Aboriginal patron to sort out the issue. The respondent would not listen to the complainant’s explanation and the complainants believed that earlier requests for medical certificates pointed to race discrimination, particularly as non-Aboriginal groups did not face the same requests.

Following a conciliation conference the respondent agreed to provide a written apology to each complainant acknowledging the complainants’ hurt and humiliation caused by the respondent’s decision to exclude them from the program. The respondent agreed to provide an individual sport program free of charge to each of the women.

Race Discrimination

An Aboriginal woman with considerable hotel/hospitality experience was interviewed for a full-time receptionist position with a local Hotel. She had been previously employed as a receptionist in a five star hotel at a Resort and had applied for a position at a lesser rated motel because she wanted to move back to the city.

The complainant became suspicious about the interview, as she believed she had all the experience and skills necessary to do the job, and further was told by her previous employer that he had provided a glowing referee report to the interviewer of her work performance to date. The woman became concerned when, after being informed that she was unsuccessful for the position, she saw the very same position advertised again a week later.

She contacted the Hotel for an explanation but could not get one. The woman then decided to lodge a complaint of discrimination on the ground of race, as she alleged the interviewer displayed surprise that she was Aboriginal when she turned up for the interview for the position.

In conciliation the respondent paid her compensation of $1,000 for hurt and humiliation, provided a written apology and agreed to include a reference to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) in advertising and to incorporate EEO in future vacancy selections and interviewing.

This information is intended as a guide only. It is not a substitute for legal advice. For more information contact the Commission on 1300 130 670 statewide or Teletypewriter 1300 130 680 statewide.