Migrant Worker Wins Landmark $305,000 Payout in Hills District Harassment Case

In a powerful and precedent-setting ruling, the Federal Court has awarded Biplavi Jarga Magar, a 25yr old international student from Nepal, $305,000 in damages after months of sexual harassment by her boss at a Mad Mex franchise in Sydney’s Hills District. This marks the highest payout yet under the Federal Sex Discrimination Act.   

Magar’s ordeal began during her employment at Mad Mex starting in 2021. She recounted deeply disturbing incidents including being shown explicit pornography on an iPad, asked explicit questions about her body, and even made to touch sex toys during work-related errands in her manager’s car. The trauma was so severe that she described being physically unable to disembark from her bus, later becoming bedridden and socially anxious. 

Justice Bromwich dismissed the employer’s defence claiming impotence & physical inability as justification as both “offensive” and irrelevant. The court found that verbal and behavioural misconduct alone constituted serious harassment.  

Redfern Legal Centre lawyer Seri Feldman-Gubbay framed the case as a stark warning to employers, tolerating harassment, intimidating complainants with legal threats, or fostering sexist workplace cultures will result in severe consequences.  

Beyond the personal victory, this decision underscores a growing recognition within Australia’s legal framework of the heightened vulnerability migrant workers face and signals that justice and accountability are possible, even against power imbalances.