The Federal Court of Australia partially dismissed proceeding brought by Sahil Verma, a former employee of Coles Group's (ASX:COL) Coles Supermarkets Australia, alleging racial and disability discrimination as well as breaches of the Fair Work Act, noting that they have no reasonable prospects of success, according to a court document on Monday.
Verma was employed by Coles Australia as a casual trolley collector from Nov. 22, 2021, until Feb. 9, 2024, when his employment was terminated. He alleged that an employee of Coles made racial comments toward him. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) dismissed Verma's application, finding that it had been made outside the 21 days after the date on which the dismissal took effect, contrary to legal requirements.
Coles had submitted that Verma's claim was incompetent because the FWC had not issued a certificate in relation to the dispute before he applied to the court. Verma did not dispute that he had no such certificate.
The court said that since Verma could not satisfy the legal requirements, the court did not have jurisdiction to entertain his claims.
Verma had also lodged a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Nov. 10, 2024, alleging that he had been discriminated against because of his disability, a mental illness, and his race.
Coles Group's shares fell nearly 1% in recent trading on Monday.