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Rebekah Barnett's avatar

UPDATE: A few small business owners have expressed concern at being held accountable for injuries when they themselves were coerced into implementing mandates. Coming from a family of small business owners, and having owned a small business myself, I'm sympathetic. I would point out a couple of things:

1. This case is simply an application of the existing workplace law. By imposing workplace mandates under PHOs, the state governments put business owners in a precarious legal position - either refuse to implement the mandate and risk fines and imprisonment, or implement the mandate and risk massive injury payouts. This is clearly unfair, but so is enforcing a medical procedure on staff as a requirement for their employment.

2. Business owners were essentially put in the same position as doctors and nurses. In both cases, a handful resisted, but most complied, passing the buck on to employees and patients, who bore the consequences in their own bodies, or through loss of employment. Business owners and health practitioners alike had a window of a few months to organise a resistance lobby before the mandates came into effect. Very few took such action (applause to those who did). In truth, most complied willingly, without qualms. Hopefully, seeing the legal consequences of this decision play out will compel business owners to band together and not comply next time.

3. In this particular case the DCP had sent an email, which was then followed up by a supervisor texting the employee to pressure him into booking the booster appointment and sending proof. So it was a very clear case that the employment contributed to his injury, because there were multiple instances of coercive pressure applied by the employer.

4. Though many of us Australians had houses and businesses and relationships and EVERYTHING on the line, this case is suggestive that 'I was just following orders' is not the get-out-of-jail-free card some business owners thought it would be.

5. Ideally, enough cases of this type will deter the big players, like Qantas and Woolworths and Myer and so on from jumping to enforce mandates next time. Obviously no one wants to see little mom and pop businesses taken to the cleaners over this.

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Mike Hemingway's avatar

Thanks for your hard work & determination, Rebekah. It's sad that you have had to do it.

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