A Melbourne pub has sacked two staff members and publicly apologised to a group that appears to include three far-right figures after they were allegedly served a drink that was spat in.
The Irish Times Pub in Melbourne posted the apology to its Facebook page, apparently naming far-right figures Jimeone Roberts, Neil Erikson and Thomas Sewell in addition to two other names.
The post — which has since been deleted but was screengrabbed and posted on Twitter — described the incident as the result of a discussion “over a political topic”.
“The Irish Times management would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Jimeone Roberts and his friends — Stefanos, Neil Erikson, Thomas Sewell, and Ricky T for the incident that took place on 2nd August 2022,” a statement read.
“Following the incident, the Irish Times management took immediate disciplinary action by terminating the two employees involved in the event which violated The Irish Times’ workplace code of conduct.
“The Irish Times management team strongly disapproves of the ex-employee’s unprofessional conduct by spitting into the patron’s drink as a consequence of a discussion with the patron over a political topic.
“As part of our commitment to provide the highest level of service to our patrons, we will continue to reinforce that all staff must remain respectful towards our patrons at all times to avoid any such future recurrence.”
Earlier this month Roberts was caught papering streets in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield with anti-Semitic posters in what magistrate David Starvaggi described as “one of the most disgusting, vile, repugnant acts of anti-Semitism and racial behaviour that I have ever seen”.
Roberts was sentenced to a community corrections order.
Last year, Erikson was jailed for 10 months after he disrupted an LGBT+ Melbourne church service in 2019 while livestreaming himself — telling the congregation “You’re not Christians” and asking if they had “married Sodomites”.
Sewell also encountered legal issues after police accused him of being one of 15 neo-Nazis who attacked a car in northeast Melbourne, and charged him with armed robbery, violent disorder, affray and criminal damage.
Sewell indicated he would fight the charges.
A detective described Sewell as a believer in a “neo-Nazi ideology” who had described himself as a “political soldier for the white race” and claimed that “Adolf Hitler is my leader”, according to The Age.
The Irish Times was inundated with responses on the social media post that apologised to the group, and in a follow-up post said it had sought legal advice when sacking the two employees.
“As a small business, still recovering from the impacts of COVID-19, we followed the legal advice in taking disciplinary action for the unprofessional conduct of our staff for spitting in a paying customer’s beer,” the Irish Times management said.
“We do not want to be in the [sic] center of any political views or topics.
“As always, we only want what is best for our staff and customers in continuing to serve the community, which this pub has done for over 20+ years.
“We would appreciate your understanding and support on this matter.”
It comes as Victoria became Australia’s first state to ban the display of the Nazi swastika, with a $22,000 fine or one year in jail as punishment, though it is not suggested there was Nazi symbolism on show during the incident at The Irish Times.
In announcing the laws which will come into effect later this year, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said “nobody has the right to spread racism, hate or anti-Semitism”.
“The Nazi symbol glorifies one of the most hateful ideologies in history — its public display does nothing but cause further pain and division,” said Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes in a statement.
The Irish Times was contacted for comment.
Emma Elsworthy is Climate Editor at Crikey, SmartCompany, and The Mandarin, and writes daily morning newsletter the Worm. Before joining Crikey in 2021, Emma was a breaking news reporter in ABC’s Sydney newsroom, a journalist at BBC Australia, and a journalist in Fairfax Media’s regional network. She was part of a team awarded a Walkley for coverage of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire crisis, and won the Australian Press Council prize in 2013.
