Jewish man who was refused service at Officeworks issues a blunt message to pro-Palestine employee

A Jewish man who was denied service at Officeworks by a 'pro-Palestine' employee has slammed her as 'blatantly antisemitic' and wants to see her sacked.

The customer, who was wearing a yarmulke at the time of the incident, took an article from the Australian Jewish News newspaper to an Officeworks store at Elsternwick, in Melbourne's east, on March 4.

The piece was titled, 'The indomitable spirit of our people', and featured a photo of a group holding Australian and Israeli flags.

After seeing the newspaper, the Officeworks manager refused to serve the Jewish man, stating: 'I'm pro-Palestine.'

The confrontation ended with the employee threatening to call police if the Jewish man did not leave the store.

The Jewish man wrote a letter to Officeworks shortly after the confrontation. 

He was offered a $100 gift card and promised the company would investigate the issue.

He has since lodged a complaint against Officeworks with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and is suing under the Equal Opportunities Act for racial and religious discrimination.

The man described feeling 'vilified' by the manager, and said he was a 'target for antisemitism'.

Furthering his hurt is Officeworks' perceived lack of action over the incident.

Officeworks has since apologised but did not fire the manager.

Instead, she received 'education and training', including a visit to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

'The anti-Semitic employee is still currently employed, which would make it seem that Officeworks condones her behaviour,' he told Sky News on Thursday.

'It seems as though you can be blatantly antisemitic and still keep your job.

'I cannot understand how that would not meet the criteria for an immediate dismissal from her role.'

Officeworks Managing Director Sarah Hunter justified the company's decision to not fire the worker.

'At the time, we concluded the incident was linked to ignorance, not malice,' she said in a statement. 

'Disciplinary measures were implemented with the team member including a final warning, additional training and relocation to a different store. 

Ms Hunter said the worker had learnt from her mistake, describing the effect of the incident as 'profound' and 'their remorse deep and genuine'.

'Again, I express my disappointment and deep regret that the incident occurred, as it does not reflect our ways of working and our values,' she said.

'We apologised to the customer at the time, and I take this opportunity to repeat our apology to him, and extend it to the broader community for the hurt and upset it has caused. 

'We will continue to work closely with our team to promote awareness, tolerance and compassion while reiterating our expectation that the highest standards of conduct must be maintained.'