Kumari, who worked in the bakery section for the Campbellfield company, claimed she had been subjected to sexual harassment, discriminated against because of her race, and victimised
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled on January 9 that Della Rosa Fresh Foods – one of Melbourne’s biggest supermarket pizza and baked goods suppliers to Coles, Woolworths and IGA – pay compensation for the injury, loss and damage suffered by an Indian woman, Sudesh Kumari, reported theage.com.au.
Kumari, who worked in the bakery section for the Campbellfield company, claimed she had been subjected to sexual harassment, discriminated against because of her race, and victimised.
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.
The payout included $38,000 in general damages, more than $14,000 for Kumari’s partial loss of earnings, and almost $1100 for her partial loss of superannuation
Kumari claimed that in 2017 a Della Rosa employee looked at her breasts rather than her face when speaking to her, making her feel “uncomfortable, objectified and degraded”. She reported the incident to management but said she was met with disbelief and racist remarks.
“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’,” Johnson said in the order.
The payout included $38,000 in general damages, more than $14,000 for Kumari’s partial loss of earnings, and almost $1100 for her partial loss of superannuation
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 was “predominantly staffed by women” – as a precaution to prevent further harassment from happening again. 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 on February 8, 2018 – nearly a month after she filed a complaint to the Fair Work Commission.
In 2019, the tribunal found that Kumari had suffered sexual harassment, but time extensions for submissions were made. COVID-19 lockdowns and other factors meant compensation was not ordered until three years later.
The payout included $38,000 in general damages, more than $14,000 for Kumari’s partial loss of earnings, and almost $1100 for her partial loss of superannuation.
The tribunal ruled that any application for costs must be made by the end of January.
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