Staff at a Melbourne high school had an “inexplicable and unusual tolerance” for antisemitic graffiti and failed to take complaints made by Jewish students and their families seriously, the federal court has ruled.
The five former students, who alleged they endured years of antisemitic bullying, sued Brighton secondary college, in Melbourne’s south-east, and the state of Victoria for negligence by failing to protect them as Jewish students from racial discrimination.
The federal court’s chief justice, Debra Mortimer, handed down her judgment on Thursday afternoon, ordering the state to pay damages totalling more than $430,000.
“The court has generally accepted the narrative from the applicants, their family members, and the 17 former and current Brighton secondary school student witnesses who gave evidence about the unusually high levels of swastika graffiti and the frequent complaints they made about [Nazi] swastikas and the antisemitic bullying and harassment,” Mortimer said.
The court found the former school principal, Richard Minack, breached racial discrimination laws by failing to take “appropriate and reasonable steps” to discourage antisemitic bullying, harassment and Nazi swastika graffiti at the school.
In her judgment, Mortimer said Minack – who was also a defendant in the proceedings – had a “less favourable” approach to antisemitic bullying than he took or would have taken for other vulnerable minorities at Brighton secondary college.
The summary of the judgment said the court upheld the student’s negligence claims and one claim of racial discrimination, relating to Minack. It also upheld a claim under the Racial Discrimination Act against a teacher who singled out one student, Guy Cohen, by greeting him in Hebrew, despite he and his mother saying the conduct was unwelcome.
But the court rejected other claims, including some about specific incidents which involved inadequate disciplinary consequences, saying the applicants did not prove there was any racially discriminatory element to these decisions.
Mortimer said her judgment outlines steps to be taken between the parties to negotiate a form of apology, and that the court agreed it should be given by the state.
“If the parties cannot agree on a form of apology, or apologies, one possible outcome is that the court will not order any apology to be given,” she said.
Dvir Abramovich, the chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the judgment was a “thundering victory for justice”.
“With this verdict, Justice Mortimer has declared that it is not open season on Jewish students in Australia, that they are not second-class citizens and that they deserve to be protected and learn in a safe environment free from religious and racial harassment,” he said.
Jillian Segal, the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the court’s ruling would be a “warning” to students who engaged in antisemitic bullying, along with those parents, teachers and education departments who failed to crack down on the behaviour.
The judgment followed the final hearing which was held in March. The plaintiffs alleged their former school and the state of Victoria failed in their obligations under Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act and the UN convention on the rights of the child.
The former students – brothers Matt and Joel Kaplan, Liam Arnold-Levy, Guy Cohen and Zack Snelling – told the court that they experienced antisemitic bullying, discrimination and negligence at the school by teachers and students between 2013 and 2020. Four out of the five students said they left the Melbourne school prematurely to escape the alleged antisemitic racial abuse and discrimination.
The students’ claims were denied by Minack, two teachers and the state of Victoria.
In court, Minack said he tried to limit the graffiti of hate symbols and had told staff to remove Nazi swastikas when they were found.
