Australia, Aug. 4 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 3:

1. Mr El Kassir complained to the President of the Anti-Discrimination Board that Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac) had discriminated against him on the ground of his disability, in the provision of services. Mr El Kassir identified the allegedly discriminatory conduct as Westpac deciding not to re-establish a banking relationship with him and not responding to either of his July 2024 emails. Westpac does not dispute that it has refused to reverse its decision not to provide banking services to Mr El Kassir.

2. The President accepted the complaint for investigation. The period covered by the complaint is the four days from 19 - 22 July 2024. The President declined the complaint for the period before 19 July 2024. Following investigation, the President declined the complaint of disability discrimination as "lacking in substance" under s 92(1)(a)(i) of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW):

(1) If at any stage of the President's investigation of a complaint-

(a) the President is satisfied that-

(i) the complaint, or part of the complaint, is frivolous, vexatious, misconceived or lacking in substance,

...

the President may, by notice in writing addressed to the complainant, decline the complaint or part of the complaint..

3. The President advised Mr El Kassir of the "reasons for declining the complaint" and his right to require the President to refer the complaint to the Tribunal: Anti-Discrimination Act, s 92 and s 93A. Mr El Kassir exercised that right. A complaint that is referred to the Tribunal on the requirement of a complainant "may not be the subject of proceedings before the Tribunal without the leave of the Tribunal": Anti-Discrimination Act, s 96(1). The word "leave" means "permission". For the following reasons I refuse to give Mr El Kassir permission for his complaint to be the subject of proceedings in the Tribunal.

Summary of complaint

Background

4. In 2019 Westpac ended its banking relationship with Mr El Kassir because of his allegedly abusive behaviour towards Westpac employees. Westpac issued him with a "banning notice" which prevented him from entering any of Westpac's premises. Despite the ban, Mr El Kassir attended a Westpac branch in April 2022 and opened an account. Westpac closed the account the following month. Since that time, Mr El Kassir has corresponded with Westpac and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) in an effort to persuade Westpac to re-open his account.

5. On 19 July 2024 and again on 22 July 2024, Mr El Kassir emailed a letter of apology to Westpac employees in Customer Service and Complaint Management. Mr El Kassir apologised for his behaviour to staff on 29 November 2019 and on 3 May 2022. He acknowledged that he "may have spoken to staff in an inappropriate and offensive manner". He said he now understands that his unreasonable conduct has impacted on those staff members' mood and mental health . He added that he is now more aware of respecting other people's boundaries.

6. Mr El Kassir said he has made efforts to address his mental health so he will not reoffend. He has regular psychological treamtment from his psychologist to address his behaviour and said that is helping him recognise his reckless and impulsive behaviour.

7. In his July 2024 correspondence with Westpac Mr El Kassir included a letter from his treating psychologist dated 8 December 2023. The letter stated that Mr El Kassir "has a history of mental health issues that has led to (him) behaving in a disruptive manner and being banned from certain organisations in the past". The psychologist went on to provide the following opinion:

Hani [Mr El Kassir] has made good progress in his treatment and is working on managing his negative emotions and working on strategies to develop prosocial behaviours.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/197c99c97971586d794bc3a3)

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