A pub has been ordered to pay an anti-Islamic political party founder $2,500 compensation after they told her she wasn’t welcome inside because of her views.
Beach House Hotel and its general manager Paul Robins were found to have discriminated against Love Australia or Leave founder Kim Vuga on the basis of her political beliefs.
Mr Robins initially showed discrimination against Ms Vuga when he told her he did not want anything to do with her political party, the day before she wanted to attend drinks there, the Courier Mail reported.
Beach House Hotel and its general manager Paul Robins were found to have discriminated against Love Australia or Leave founder Kim Vuga (pictured) on the basis of political belief
The hotel said in their defence the reasoning behind the decision to exclude her and her supporters was down to health and safety concerns
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Jeremy Gordon said in his decision the manager also discriminated against Ms Vuga and her supporters by saying they were not welcome at the hotel or the car-park.
‘A substantial reason for these things happening was Ms Vuga’s political belief,’ he said.
The hotel and Mr Robins claimed their exclusion was due to health and safety concerns, which Mr Gordon did not accept.
A party representative had initially been informed two weeks before Ms Vuga planned to hold a meeting in Hervey Bay that the hotel was available for drinks only.
Mr Robins then became concerned on August 8 when he saw a party flyer advertising a ‘meet for drinks’ and was worried people would be turning up for a meeting the next day.
Mr Robins, the general manager, told Ms Vuga (pictured) that she and her supporters were not welcome at the bar
He then said, in a phone conversation with Ms Vuga, that they could not meet at the hotel or in the carpark and said: ‘Sorry, I don’t want anything to do with your association’.
In an email, the manager later told Ms Vuga: ‘We do not want to get involved or have the name of our business associated with the party’.
Ms Vuga’s request for $25,000 was turned down as Mr Gordon didn’t believe she had severely suffered from the incident.
He also dismissed her application for the hotel to publish apologies or undergo anti-discrimination training.
Ms Vuga believed from the start that she had a discrimination case which she thought was important to stand up for.