Gay man’s discrimination case against Barkers Fresh Produce dismissed
A gay man has taken a homophobic colleague to court, claiming he was humiliated by the senior manager saying “good morning ladies” in a attempt to “misgender” him.
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A chatty gay man who claimed a colleague repeatedly greeted him by saying ‘good morning ladies’ has had his discrimination case thrown out.
Timothy Bye was fired from his accounts job at Barkers Fresh Produce in June 2017, after 14 months, with management labelling him “unproductive” and said he spent “an excessive amount of time socialising”.
Mr Bye took his case to VCAT, claiming breaches of discriminations, sexual harassment and victimisation by a senior manager.
Mr Bye alleged sales and operations manager, Darren Reid, would enter the shared office space and say “good morning ladies” in an attempt to “misgender” him.
He said the greeting was “humiliating and distressing” and filed a complaint.
Mr Reid reportedly changed his greeting to “good morning team Barkers” following the grievance.
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Mr Bye also alleged he overheard Mr Reid talking to another worker saying gay men were “f---ing disgusting”, he was against “faggots” and they “do not deserve to live”.
But Mr Reid said he couldn’t recall having that conversation, and strongly denied making those comments.
He did however, acknowledge a series of Facebook posts he’d made during 2013-2016, which included comments in opposition to marriage equality and linking homosexuality to paedophilia.
Mr Bye also stated he was demoted after he complained about Mr Reid’s behaviour and ended up taking three weeks off to deal with the distress.
When asked why he hadn’t proceeded with legal action while he was still employed with the Epping produce company, Mr Bye said he didn’t have the support.
Barkers’ assistant finance controller John Scrimizzi told the tribunal he had in January moved Mr Bye into the open area of the office and issued him with a verbal warning over his “excessive amount of time (spent) socialising”.
A written warning about Mr Bye’s behaviour followed in May and Mr Scrimizzi said by June, Mr Bye’s performance hadn’t improved and the decision was made to terminate his employment.
In handing down his final comments VCAT senior member Brendan Hoysted said Mr Scrimizzi’s evidence “persuaded me … Mr Bye was dismissed, after warnings, because of his performance”.
“I cannot conclude … that (Mr Bye) was unfairly treated or treated differently because he had raised a complaint (about Mr Reid’s alleged comments),” he said.
But in dismissing Mr Bye’s case, Mr Hoysted was also quick to slap down Mr Reid’s homophobic views.
“His Facebook posts left me in no doubt Mr Reid has strongly-held negative views about same-sex attracted men and women and that he considers it appropriate that he publish those opinions,” he said.
“He should not see my decision to dismiss the serious claims made against him as an endorsement of his ideology or his vilification of others”.