BP worker fired for Adolf Hitler memes wins $143 000 compensation

Canberra, August 12 - Neftegaz.RU. BP technician Scott Tracey was fired from his job at the Kwinana refinery in Australia in 2018 after sharing the video with colleagues, showing Hitler ranting with English subtitles about BP wage negotiations.

The clip, made by his wife using footage from the 2004 German-language movie "Downfall", initially saw Tracey lose an unfair dismissal case, but he was later reinstated with support from the Australian Workers Union (AWU).

BP dismissed Tracey, alleging that the video compared senior management to Nazis and that showing a colleague the clip on a BP computer breached its code of conduct.

The long-running legal battle has now been brought to a close after the Fair Work Commission in Australia ordered BP to pay him a$143,100 in lost salary. Tracey was also rehired by the oil giant.

AWU secretary Brad Gray told the Sydney Morning Herald: “We hope this marks the end of a truly unedifying chapter for BP management. To dig in and drag an honest worker through nearly 2 years of stress and uncertainty, all because a few stuffed shirts didn’t get a joke, is poor corporate behaviour.”

BP, which had called the video "highly offensive and inappropriate", said in a statement that it was reviewing the commission's decision.