Perth supermarket worker allegedly assaulted by Uber driver delivering groceries

Australia Broadcast Center

5 days ago

Confronting footage of a young female supermarket worker who appears to be kicked to the ground by an older male ride-share driver has been obtained by the ABC, showing an alleged assault in broad daylight.
The woman, who does not want to be named, said she was left terrified by the incident which came "out of nowhere" as she was handing over groceries in an inner-city Perth supermarket car park.
Police allege the 27-year-old man from Beckenham had a verbal altercation with the woman last Tuesday, when she was taking an order out to him.
It's alleged he made verbal threats before physically assaulting her, hopping back in his car and driving away.
He has been charged with assaulting a retail worker and making a threat.
He's set to appear in court next month.
CCTV obtained by the ABC appears to show the retail worker talking to a delivery driver before he appears to kick her, causing her to fall to the ground.
The worker, who is in her early 20s, alleges the kick came after she asked the man to separate the delivery orders.
"I was so scared, like, terrified," she said.
The worker said when her employer discovered the driver worked for Uber, they asked the company to ban him from driving for them until the incident has been fully investigated.
The woman's mother Jodi Hackford said the incident was "shocking" and "a real concern" for female safety generally.
"To be in that situation was quite clearly terrifying," she said.
She questioned whether there was information sharing between rideshare companies, so they were all aware of alleged incidents with drivers.
"What checks are they [rideshare companies] putting in place to make sure that the public are safe?," she said.
In a statement to the ABC, an Uber spokesperson said the company was aware of the incident and apologised to the supermarket worker "for her experience and the distress this has caused."
"Uber does not tolerate any form of violence on the platform, and is now actively investigating the matter," the statement said.
"All driver partners and delivery people are required to pass a criminal check in accordance with each state's regulations before being eligible to receive trip or order requests.
"Our Community Guidelines clearly set out the rules that we expect all users to follow, and a breach of these guidelines can result in loss of access to the Uber app."
In July last year, WA passed new laws to strengthen punishments for people who assault retail workers. Since then, 329 people have been charged.
The laws mean people who are convicted of attacking staff in the course of their duties could receive up to seven years in prison, or three years and a fine up to $36,000.
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association WA branch secretary Ben Harris said the recent allegations were "shocking".
"Customer abuse and violence is something we've seen really ramp up in the last decade in Australia and WA hasn't been immune to that," he said.
"We've seen a lot of members reporting increases in customer aggression, which is leading to violence and making them feel unsafe in their workplaces."
Mr Harris said if a someone was aggressive towards a retail worker, stores should consider whether they should be allowed to visit again.
He said long after the bruises healed, victims could experience longer term trauma.
"They still bear the scars, particularly psychological scars that come from that," Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris said he understood the state government was looking at further protections to restrain and remove people who demonstrate they can't behave appropriately in a retail environment.