A nursing home has been ordered to pay almost $400,000 to a nurse who was sacked because she was Chinese and her manager preferred Filipino workers.
Wei Han worked as a registered nurse for St Basil’s Homes on a permanent part-time basis for more than nine years at its facility in Lakemba, western Sydney.
Before she was sacked in January 2020, Ms Han complained she was bullied and discriminated against because she was Chinese, according to a Tuesday decision from Justice Yaseen Shariff in the Federal Court.
Filipino staff members ‘ganged up’ on her and the general manager, who was also Filipino, favoured workers of his own race, she claimed.
Ms Han emailed her Filipino manager saying she felt she was being ‘repeatedly targeted by’ another employee and ‘no longer felt safe to work at St Basil’s’.
She also complained by email about the ‘lack of teamwork’ at the facility after other staff members refused to help her with caring for residents at the home.
In response, the manager sought accounts from other staff members and then fired Ms Han for failing to provide necessary care to residents.
The first judge assigned to the matter, Justice Steven Rares, found that instead of properly investigating Ms Han’s complaints, the manager had ‘turned the tables’ and levelled ‘trumped up’ allegations against her.
Justice Rares concluded that ‘St Basil’s had dismissed Ms Han because of her race because it in essence… preferred workers of a different race’, the decision said.
In weighing the amount in damages to award, Justice Shariff was satisfied that St Basil’s conduct had caused Ms Han to suffer loss and damage.
‘The contraventions (of the Fair Work Act) contributed to her suffering mental harm. They have also led to her suffering economic loss,’ the judge said.
Ms Han had once enjoyed her work as a nurse and led an active social life, but she was no longer social after the events at St Basil’s, and felt ’embarrassed and ashamed about what has happened to her’.
She had also suffered acute anxiety and had to be hospitalised twice due to panic attacks, Justice Shariff noted.
St Basil’s was ordered to pay $321,559 in compensation and $60,000 in pecuniary penalties.
Managerial staff at the Lakemba Facility involved in the events relating to Ms Han are no longer employed there, the decision said.
Daily Mail has contacted St Basil’s Homes for comment.