Conduct off the rails

THE NSW Transport Appeals Board found that a CityRail customer service manager made racist, offensive. uncalled-for and completely inappropriate comments, but then gave him his job back.

At midnight on November 10, 2010, Jewish couple Cheryl and Jeffrey Bogan asked another CityRail employee if trains on the Eastern Suburbs line were still running.

The response they received left them surprised and in disbelief.

“They’re all Jews living in the Eastern Suburbs, they’re all wealthy, they can afford to get a taxi,” CityRail customer service manager Roman Arnusch said.

The Bogans complained and in August last year Arnusch was sacked by CityRail, but last week the NSW Transport Appeals Board found that a six-month suspension was the appropriate punishment. He will return to work on March 28.

“Whether the remark that Mr Arnusch made was in the terms as described by the Bogans or the appellant himself, it was racist, offensive, uncalled for and completely inappropriate, particularly for someone in a customer service position with RailCorp,” Transport Appeals Board’s commissioner Inaam Tabbaa said.

Ms Tabbaa found that Arnusch breached RailCorp’s dignity and respect in the workplace procedure, however, she said that there were extenuating circumstances.

“Taking into account the appellant’s distinguished, almost 30-year, career with RailCorp, the fact that he has no discipline history recorded against him throughout his period of employment, and the positive references and compliments about him which, as the union stated, bore testimony to the fact he was normally diligent, courteous, helpful and respectful, and the matters set out above, I find that the penalty of dismissal is extreme in the present circumstances, as it would serve to end his working life given his age and field of experience.”

Jeffrey Bogan said he did not have a problem with Arnusch being reinstated by CityRail.

“A man’s got to make a living,” he said. “We have just learnt that his work is in the area of customer service and he should not be allowed to be in contact with the general public. At the tribunal, he showed no remorse.”

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said that a person cannot necessarily be penalised for holding certain beliefs, but action should be taken when behaviour goes beyond the bounds of acceptable conduct.

“Acting in a discriminatory manner towards others is clearly unacceptable, particularly when the perpetrator holds a position of customer relations.

“Mr Arnusch was suspended for six months without pay and the judicial findings concluded that his comments were racist, offensive and inappropriate,” Alhadeff said.

“The important issues here are that the authorities took the matter seriously and that Mr Arnusch has hopefully learned that such conduct has no place in Australian society.”

JOSHUA LEVI

Photo: michiexile