Married father-of-two, 41, who slapped a bar manager, 22, on the bum as she walked past him while working is found guilty of assault
- Annabel Bassil was working at a pub in the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney's south
- A 41-year-old father-of-two slapped Ms Bassil on her bum as she walked past
- She claimed his wife approached her to say her husband was 'just having fun'
- The man faced court last week and plead guilty to a charge of common assault
A young bar manager took a married father-of-two to court after he slapped her on the bum while she worked.
Annabel Bassil, 22, was working at a pub in the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney's south, last August when the 41-year-old man slapped her on her behind as she walked past.
'I had had no previous interaction with this customer, he simply walked in, saw me and hit me, to which he attempted to justify by saying that it was fine because he had a wife,' she said.
'What do you even say to that? In his mind, it was justified'.
Annabel Bassil, 22, was working at a pub in the Sutherland Shire, in Sydney's south, last August when a man slapped her on her behind as she walked past
Ms Bassil (right) and her two friends having a celebratory drink after 'an exhausting day in court' last week
The man was thrown out of the bar and police were called. The following day Ms Bassil made a formal police complaint.
He faced court last week and pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.
The court heard the man, who was on the phone when he assaulted Ms Bassil, was 'excited' as he had just found out his NRL team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, had won.
During the trial, Ms Bassil was asked if her handheld radio hanging on her waist felt more of the impact from the man's hand.
'That's not the point. The point is that he did it. I did nothing that meant he could do that,' she told the ABC.
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The man was given a section 10 dismissal, meaning he was found guilty but there was no conviction or sentence recorded.
'He was clearly remorseful about this spur of the moment action, and for him it has cost him a year of lawyers fees, as well as the embarrassment of his own behaviour,' Ms Bassil said.
'From the way that he behaved in court, I could tell that he knew he was in the wrong and for me that was enough.'
Ms Bassil claimed that following the incident, man's wife approached her at the bar to demand she not 'do anything stupid' as he was 'just having fun'.
'This event had a knock on affect on me questioning my worth and caused my mental health to deteriorate, as well as it leading me to really dislike working in a pub,' she said.
Ms Bassil, who has worked in hospitality since she was 17, said pubs can be a tough place to work in as a woman
'It also caused me to imagine this guys face wherever I went and I generally felt uncomfortable in my work place.'
Ms Bassil, who has worked in hospitality since she was 17, said pubs can be a tough place to work in as a woman.
'We are constantly objectified, told that we would 'look prettier if we smile' and that because you poured them a beer, you owe them something and that your sole purpose of being there is to be something nice to look at,' she said.
'As a female manager I was exposed to multiple male customers in disbelief that they would consider leaving a female in charge and that they would only speak to to 'male managers'.
'I had a number of males around me imply that they thought I was over reacting and wasting my time which only made this situation more overwhelming.'
