Tradie awarded $6k over ‘Jackie Chan’ remark

EXCLUSIVE

A woman who sprayed a tradie with a hose, mocked his accent, and called him “Jackie Chan” has been ordered by a tribunal to pay the man $6000 in damages after it was found she racially vilified him.

On Thursday, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) handed down their decision after solar panel tradie Xining Duan made a racial discrimination complaint against Sylvania woman Nina Bridge.

The tribunal heard how Mr Duan was installing solar panels on the roof of Ms Bridge’s next-door neighbour’s home when she ordered him to stop working as it was “almost five”.

Mr Duan told her he would be finishing up in two minutes before she sprayed him with a hose.

The tradie told the tribunal he lost his balance while doing so and almost fell off the roof.

Ms Bridge then said words to the effect of: “I don’t care. Aren’t you Jackie Chan jumping off the roof” before telling him “I don’t understand your English” and mimicked his accent.

Mr Duan brought the matter to NCAT and requested compensation for two days of work, which he said he missed due to the incident, as well as a public apology.

In a complaint he made to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board – which was filed to the tribunal – Mr Duan said he felt “humiliated” and “mocked” by Ms Bridge.

“At the point of the attack I was panicking and scared as I was afraid that she was trying to kill me by making me fall off the roof,” he said in the complaint.

“When I went home, I could not fall asleep. When I did, I had nightmares of me falling off the roof. I could not breathe and think properly because of her attack.”

The tribunal also heard from another tradie working at a nearby electrical meter box.

He told the tribunal he saw Ms Bridge spray water at Mr Duan with her hose on a number of occasions.He said he also saw that when Mr Duan slipped and fell onto the roof, Ms Bridge continued spraying water at him.

The electrician had to run to close the electrical box, fearing the water would get inside the meter and hurt his wrist while doing so.

“He was shocked and scared by Ms Bridge’s conduct,” the tribunal decision stated.

Ms Bridge admitted to the tribunal that she did make the comment about Jackie Chan and apologised for doing so.

However, she told the tribunal Mr Duan was “yelling and screaming” at her and was “not speaking English” which had triggered her “anxiety and depression.”

She also told the tribunal she felt “threatened” by Mr Duan and that he was “belligerent”.

The tribunal did not accept Ms Bridge’s version of events and found her claims that Mr Duan began to “scream and shout” to be “implausible”.

In their decision, tribunal members Larissa Andelman and Steven Davison upheld Mr Duan’s complaint of racial vilification.

“She did it because she was angry and frustrated after a long, noisy day of building work on her neighbour’s house,” they said in their decision.

“We are satisfied that Ms Bridge had a clear view of Mr Duan on the roof and saw him slip and fall on the roof after she sprayed him.”

Ms Bridge was ordered to pay Mr Duan $6000 within 28 days as compensation for “loss and damages”.

Know more? Contact our reporter sarah.keoghan@news.com.au