Vodafone stands down worker over antisemitism claim
Telco disputes key claims as Jewish woman praises company's response
Vodafone has stood down an employee at a dealer store in Elsternwick pending the outcome of an investigation into an alleged antisemitic incident involving an elderly disabled Jewish woman.
The woman, who has asked not to be named, told The AJN she went to the store on Wednesday 22 June seeking help with a faulty pocket Wi-Fi device that had given her intermittent service for more than a week.
She travels by mobility scooter, is unable to walk unaided and describes herself as “extremely unwell” and “very disabled”.
She said she and a young employee were the only two people in the store.
In a statement, Vodafone said it had zero tolerance for antisemitism and was reviewing CCTV footage and other information to establish what had occurred.
The company disputed aspects of the account that had been circulated publicly, saying its “initial review of the information indicates this was a brief interaction and does not support key aspects” of claims made about “the nature and tone of the interaction or the customer being prevented from leaving”.
Its focus, it said, is on establishing the facts before taking any action.
The woman’s account differs in significant respects.
She said that when she asked the employee to look at the device, he told her in a “very superior, supercilious manner” that it simply needed charging.
“I would describe the look on his face as totally supercilious,” she said, “and it was as though he was mocking me.”
She said she explained that the device lost charge rapidly and that she had a strong IT background, but that the employee appeared to doubt her knowledge and seemed determined to “assert some authority over me”.
The interaction, she alleges, then escalated sharply.
According to her account, the employee became agitated and began shouting “Free Palestine” at her repeatedly.
“He actually looked as though he was extremely proud of himself and rather smug, and I was shocked,” she said.
She alleges he insisted she hand over her mobile phone, gave no explanation, and at one point filmed her while she waited for her device to be returned.
“It felt like a call for my murder,” she said. “I was alone, disabled, reliant on the service.”
She alleges the employee called her a “Zionist” several times, told her “Palestine was theirs”, and that she believed he said Jews were “disgusting”.
When she suggested he might “consider getting off TikTok”, she said he shouted that he knew what he was saying “because he’s a Palestinian”.
The woman said she was wearing a necklace inscribed with the Shema, and had stopped wearing a Magen David some months earlier because she had become frightened.
She said she could not be certain why she was targeted, but suspected it was because the store’s clientele is largely Jewish.
The AJN has been shown the in-store CCTV footage of the incident and it appears to supply important context that contradicts some of the claims.
There is nothing in the footage that indicates shouting or yelling between the parties
The staff member does not appear to become agitated, and the woman volunatarily hands her phone over briefly and is given it back.
He remains seated the entire time and there is no indication the customer was prevented from leaving the store.
The staff member does take out his phone and start filming the woman towards the end, and she starts filming him as well, and there is clearly an exchange of some sort between them.
The footage is video only, so there is no record of what was actually said.
She left the store at about 3.45pm and said she burst into tears. From there she telephoned Vodafone to make a complaint.
She has praised the company’s response.
She said the call handler “really listened” to her and immediately escalated the matter to a supervisor.
“I can’t fault them,” she said. A retail lead later spoke with her for about an hour and a half, arranged to visit her in person on Monday and offered to replace her faulty device.
“So far, so good,” she said. “They’re taking it really seriously, even though they’ve seen the footage, so I’m very impressed with that. He understands completely.”
The matter was raised publicly by Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dr Dvir Abramovich, who said, “The geography of harassment and abuse of Jewish people in Australia is expanding by the minute. I no longer recognise the country I have lived in for forty years.”
He described the alleged incident as one of the most disturbing reports he had received in 2026.
The investigation is continuing.
comments