Maori man sues employer after receiving 'black guy repellent'

Court documents reveal the complainant is suffering from depression because of workplace discrimination

BY Rachel Ranosa 15 Aug 2018

A Maori Niuean man is suing his Queensland employer and two co-workers after the complainant was allegedly given a ‘black guy repllent’ [sic] for sunscreen.

The complainant McDuff Tupetagi, an employee of Rainbow Beach Adventure Company, claimed the incident was only the latest in a string of racially charged actions against him at his workplace, which prompted him to take sick leave for mental distress and anxiety, Brisbane Times reported.

Tupetagi filed his complaint before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission against the tour company and its employees Mervin O’Neill and Joel Mahon. The complainant, who has a dark brown complexion, alleged he was often the target of ‘black jokes’ and referred to as ‘the black fella’.

In the latest instance involving the sunscreen, Tupetagi claimed his co-workers told him he had a ‘present’ waiting for him in one of the company-owned cars he was assigned. Inside, he found a used canister of sunscreen wrapped in bright yellow tape with the words ‘BLACK GUY REPLLENT’ [sic] and ‘CAUTION! ONLY USE ON BLACKS’ scribbled on the tape.

The incident made Tupetagi feel like an “unwanted creature or pest,” he said. When he reported it to the management, O’Neill said it looked like “something that Joel [Mahon] would do” then sent Tupetagi home and promised to sort out the matter.

Court documents stated the complainant had since been diagnosed with severe depression and required extensive and ongoing psychiatric support. Medical certificates pointed to discrimination as the cause of his anguish.

In 2016, Tupetagi’s request for a sunshade to avoid working in the open sun had bee declined because the management assumed Tupetagi was “less or not susceptible to sunburn and skin damage from the sun because of his skin colour,” the statement of facts read.

A lawyer who filed documents on behalf of the tour company, as well as O’Neill and Mahon, called the sunscreen incident “a practical joke between good friends”.