After reportedly spitting into a Nazi’s beverage, two bartenders at a tavern were fired.
On August 2, Jimeone Roberts and three friends were drinking at The Irish Times Pub in Melbourne’s central business district when they challenged a male employee behind the counter.
According to reports, the worker saw Mr. Roberts had a “black sun” tattoo on his arm and spit into his drink.
The SS military force in Germany during the Nazi period utilised the insignia.
After the cocktail was spoiled, the party is shown in video posted to social media berating the employee. The bartender then repeatedly asks them to leave.
A buddy of Mr. Roberts is overheard telling the bartender that it is his own decision and that he is free to do whatever he wants.
Then Mr. Roberts began calling the employee names, including “fa***t.”
I didn’t start s**t with you because you were a f**king fa***t, and I know that you don’t like Nazis.
It shouldn’t have mattered what Mr. Roberts was wearing, according to his companion, who then proceeds to scold the bartender.
The bartender responds, “It was a display of contempt.”
The buddy responds, “This is the issue at hand, it’s called disrespect, and you’re meant to be performing a job.”
I feel sick when I hear that. You’re making me angry because you believe it’s okay.
Once everyone has left the bar, one person asks the bartender what time he closes so they can “meet up someplace.”
The Irish Times expressed regret for the event and announced the dismissal of two staff members.
The Irish Times Management issued a statement saying, “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 August 2, 2022.”
The two workers who were engaged in the incident, which breached the workplace code of conduct for The Irish Times, were fired immediately after the occurrence.
The Irish Times Management team strongly disagrees with the former employee’s improper behaviour in spitting into the customer’s drink after a conversation about politics.
We will continue to emphasise that all staff members must always treat our customers with respect in order to prevent any such incidents from happening in the future as part of our commitment to provide our customers the best quality of service.
The bar claimed in a different post that they were still feeling the effects of Covid on the hospitality sector and that they had obtained legal counsel before firing the personnel.
The management of the bar said, “We do not wish to be at the centre of any political beliefs or themes.”
The pub has served the neighbourhood for more than 20 years, and as always, we only care about what is best for our workers and customers.
Regarding this, we would really appreciate your support and understanding.
Social media users are divided on the event, with some praising the employee for confronting the group for their divisive views.
One person remarked, “Your bartender deserves a pay raise and a bonus if they spit in a Nazi’s beverage.”
Another added, “The young fella deserves solidarity.”
Others criticised his actions, saying that they were inappropriate in the midst of an epidemic.
One person said that it was unsanitary and wild and had harmed a good company that, after two years of agony, was just attempting to survive and carry on with its operations.
In response to the event, Mr. Roberts claimed that the bartender had “hassled” him in an interview with The Irish Times.
In any pub or bar in our country, he said, “As a white Australian, I ought to be allowed to enjoy a beer without having my food or drink tainted because people disagree with my ideas.”
Imagine the frenzy if the positions were reversed in this circumstance.
The head of Australia’s anti-hate organisation and chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dr. Dvir Abramovich, predicted that patrons would be “applauding” the bartenders.
He said: “I understand the revulsion and hatred they felt when they realised they were feeding nasty people who were undoubtedly toasting Hitler and fantasising about gathering up Australian Jewish men, women, and children and bringing them into open fields to be slaughtered.”
This event should send a shiver down every Victorian’s spine because the language that these hardline racists are spouting online may cross the line into actual fatal assaults, according to the statement, “This incident is a reminder that neo-Nazism is alive in our state.”
Spitting into a drink was inappropriate, said Dr. Abramovich.
However, he said, “there are more suitable and effective methods to combat the evil they stand for than spitting into their beverages.”
“Refusing to serve them is one thing; leaving in protest is quite another.”
After posting many anti-Semitic posters across Melbourne, Mr. Roberts was recently given a community corrections order.
He engaged in “one of the most filthy, terrible, revolting acts of anti-Semitism and racist behaviour that I have ever witnessed,” according to Magistrate David Starvaggi.
In a separate incident, his companion Thomas Sewell, who had been with him inside the bar, is being charged with assault for allegedly punching a security officer outside the Channel Nine building.