College student faces $200,000 (AUS) bill in Facebook post racism row.

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loco145

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#1  Edited By loco145
Member since 2006 • 12226 Posts

A university student accused of racial discrimination over a Facebook post has amassed a hefty legal bill, which could blow out to $200,000 if the case goes to trial.

Alex Wood is being sued under the Racial Discrimination Act over a 2013 post he wrote after being asked to leave a Queensland University of Technology computer lab reserved for the use of Indigenous students.

"Just got kicked out of the unsigned Indigenous computer room. QUT is stopping segregation with segregation," he posted on a Facebook page called QUT Stalker Space.

The post attracted comments critical of both the incident and the existence of the Indigenous-only space.

"I wonder where the white supremacist lab is," wrote another student, Jackson Powell, who is also being sued.

The third student involved in the lawsuit, Calum Thwaites, has emphatically denied being responsible for a post that included a reference to "ITT N-----s" and has produced a volume of evidence supporting his denial.

The trio are being sued, alongside the university and two staff, by the administration officer who asked Mr Wood to leave the room, Cindy Prior.

An Indigenous woman, Ms Prior went on sick leave following the incident and reports she felt unsafe leaving her home because she was afraid somebody would say something offensive to her.

She also says she was unable to return to work in a role that required her to have face-to-face contact with white people.

Source.

Few people has been treated worse than Australians natives, though. :/

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comp_atkins

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#2  Edited By comp_atkins
Member since 2005 • 38944 Posts

she was afraid somebody would say something offensive to her.

wait, what?

someone may say something offensive to you any day of your life

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skipper847

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#3 skipper847
Member since 2006 • 7334 Posts

Where not white though where pink. You not seen it on Star Trek Them blue guys calling us pink skin.

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Ant_17

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#5 Ant_17
Member since 2005 • 13634 Posts

Wow, this woman has no clue how the law works.

Would love to meet the judge and prosecutor for this case.

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mattbbpl

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#6 mattbbpl
Member since 2006 • 23367 Posts

@Ant_17 said:

Wow, this woman has no clue how the law works.

Would love to meet the judge and prosecutor for this case.

How does the law in question work? I'm completely unfamiliar with Australian law, nevertheless this particular law.

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Ant_17

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#7 Ant_17
Member since 2005 • 13634 Posts

@mattbbpl:

Definition of racial discrimination under the Act[edit]

Racial discrimination occurs under the RDA when someone is treated less fairly than someone else in a similar situation because of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Racial discrimination can also occur when a policy or rule appears to treat everyone in the same way but actually has an unfair effect on more people of a particular race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin than others.

It is against the law to discriminate in areas such as:

  • Employment (section 15) - e.g. when seeking employment, training, promotion, equal pay or conditions of employment;
  • Land, housing or accommodation (section 12) - e.g. when buying a house or when renting;
  • Provision of goods and services (section 13) - e.g. when buying something, applying for credit, using banks, seeking assistance from government departments, lawyers, doctors and hospitals, or attending restaurants, pubs, entertainment venues;
  • Access to places and facilities for use by the public (section 11) - e.g. when trying to use parks, libraries, government offices, hotels, places of worship, entertainment centres, hire cars;
  • Advertising (section 16) - e.g. advertising for a job stating that people from a certain ethnic group cannot apply;
  • Joining a trade union (section 14).
  • Certain offensive behaviour will also be found discriminatory if it is likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate people of a certain race, colour or national or ethnic origin (section 18 B-F)

The bold ones are what they could use to sue the guys, but i don't see how, since it's just ranbom posts.

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mattbbpl

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#8 mattbbpl
Member since 2006 • 23367 Posts

@Ant_17: I think the last one is the only one that would apply in US courts - although it would be thrown out based on first amendment conflicts :-)

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TheWalkingGhost

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#9 TheWalkingGhost
Member since 2012 • 6092 Posts

This whole thing is stupid.

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themajormayor

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#10 themajormayor
Member since 2011 • 25729 Posts

LOL

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lamprey263

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#11 lamprey263
Member since 2006 • 45503 Posts

doesn't seem like they really have a case here

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ad1x2

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#12 ad1x2
Member since 2005 • 8430 Posts

Ms. Prior has some serious issues if she is letting words get to her like that. Being that easily offended is a bad way to go through life.

For her own sake, she better stay off the Internet, especially with people not under the jurisdiction of Australian law telling her how they really feel.

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horgen

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#13 horgen  Moderator
Member since 2006 • 127740 Posts

I think Ms. Prior needs some therapy.

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gamerguru100

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#14 gamerguru100
Member since 2009 • 12718 Posts

@TheWalkingGhost said:

This whole thing is stupid.

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Still_Vicious

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#15 Still_Vicious
Member since 2016 • 319 Posts

Anti Free speech

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#16 hrt_rulz01
Member since 2006 • 22696 Posts

I hadn't even heard of this story, and I live here...

But yeah, sounds ridiculous.

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plageus900

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#17 plageus900
Member since 2013 • 3065 Posts

What a stupid bitch. Her existence offends me.

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amekhov

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#18 amekhov
Member since 2007 • 987 Posts

What a moronic lawsuit, I hope this gets thrown out and the guy gets his money back, what a god damn shame.