Newtown pub manager fired for joking about violence towards women

The manager of a Newtown pub, Gary Wright, has lost his job for making light of violence against women in a post on the pub’s Facebook page.

He posted a cartoon image on the Coopers Hotel page on Wednesday of Batman slapping Robin, correcting him for calling a touchdown a try.

"Keep calm and slap a bitch as we approach the finals of this years [sic] NRL! Live & Loud every game!" the post read.

He doubled down on the first post an hour later.

"Keep calm and hug like you can't take a joke as we approach the finals of this years [sic] NRL! Live & Loud every game!" he posted.

Coopers Hotel was flooded with hundreds of one-star ratings and there was a severe backlash on Facebook. "Keep calm - here's another one star review," one woman wrote on the Facebook page.

Some called for a boycott of the hotel.

Other posts said it was "deplorable", "disgusting" and "sick".

"Jokes about domestic violence against women aren't funny. And during football season when violence against women spikes?" a woman wrote in her review of the pub.

Facing the backlash, Mr Wright subsequently issued an apology.

"Hi all, my name is Gary Wright, I am the general manager of the Coopers Hotel and I wholly apologise for the recent post by myself on our social media platform," he wrote.

But he was told it was too little, and too late.

So, that’s it then? Pathetic! Donate the night’s proceeds to a domestic violence group," one angry person said.

The licensees of the pub said they had fired Mr Wright.

They wrote on Facebook: “As some of you may be aware, yesterday a staff member posted a meme with an inappropriate comment on our Facebook page. That post was subsequently removed.

"We have taken action in relation to that staff member. Their employment has been immediately terminated and they no longer work at the hotel. Their behaviour does not reflect who we are.

"As licensees of Cooper (sic) Hotel, we do not condone violence of any type against any person regardless, of age, gender or sexual preference. That's not who we are. We pride ourselves on being part of the Newtown community, providing good food, great entertainment and a safe environment.

"On behalf of the staff and management at Cooper Hotel we apologise."

Friday 20th July 2018