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'Swastika' worker was unfairly dismissed
By Ben Schneiders | August 25, 2011

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/swastika-worker-was-unfairly-dismissed-20110825-1jc91.html (http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/swastika-worker-was-unfairly-dismissed-20110825-1jc91.html)

A WAREHOUSE worker who etched a swastika (卐) and "WELCOME TO HELL" into the ice on a freezer room door will receive a $4800 pay-out after Fair Work Australia upheld a decision that he was unfairly dismissed.

Stephen O'Loughlin had been sacked after the etchings were seen by other employees. Mr O'Loughlin defended them as a jovial way to criticise the very harsh working conditions in the warehouse.

"Our fingers froze up. Our toes used to froze up. I thought it was quite a dangerous environment to work in. It was just an indication to me and another workmate that this was working in hell."

But senior staff members who were Jewish, dismissed him for serious misconduct for "discrimination on the grounds of racial vilification". Last September the tribunal ruled the sacking was "harsh and unreasonable" and that while the worker, either through ignorance or stupidity, had "failed to appreciate" the offence the swastika (卐) creates it ruled he had not engaged in racial vilification.

The tribunal, however, did not give Mr O'Loughlin his job back saying his "abrasive and insensitive" conduct had "created impediment to the re-establishment of any employment relationship".

During the initial Fair Work case Mr O'Loughlin's views were summarised by the tribunal as "get over it, the war finished 70 years ago." [more ... (http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/swastika-worker-was-unfairly-dismissed-20110825-1jc91.html)]