Culture

Melbourne Karen Refuses To Wear Mask At Bunnings, Films Self Yelling At Staff About Human Rights

"You're in breach of the 1948 charter of human rights to discriminate against men and women", she says, referencing a UN declaration created to prevent future genocides.

by Jared Richards  27 July 2020
Melbourne Karen goes viral after refusing to wear face mask at Bunnings because of '1948 human rights charter'

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A Melbourne woman has uploaded a video where she enters a Bunnings store without a mask and accosting staff who ask her to leave, calling it an act of “discrimination” that ‘breaches the 1948 charter of human rights’.

In the video, which went around on Twitter on Sunday afternoon after user @sexenheimer shared it, the woman enters a Bunning store without a mask — a direct violation of current laws in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell shire, unless you have a legal/medical reason to not wear one.

This woman’s reason was legalise gibberish you might find across private Facebook groups, aka not a legitimate reason at all.

“You’re not authorised by the Australian government to even ask me about it”, she continually repeats as staff members, including the manager, tell her to leave the store if she doesn’t wear a face mask.

When told it’s a condition of entry to enter the store, she responds by saying it’s “unlawful” and “in breach of the 1948 charter of human rights to discriminate against men and women”.

She is seemingly refering to article seven: “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”

Call me a prescriptivist, but the UN was probably more concerned with outlawing the human rights abuses that led to a world war and genocide. Who’s to say!

In a follow-up video, the woman films police who are arresting her. She also argues with them, and says he will charge the officer with an illegal arrest with a weapon, which according to her is extra illegal because he had a weapon and she didn’t.

To be clear, while Bunnings can’t force a customer to wear a mask, they can refuse service and ask the person to leave, given it’s private property. HIV activist Paul Kidd has tweeted a solid breakdown of the woman’s very shaky legal argument if you’d like to read more.

Another video has emerged where the woman — dubbed Karen online — yells at some Australia Post workers in a similar confrontation.

In response to the video, Bunnings chief operating officer Deb Poole called the behaviour “completely unacceptable”, and that they wouldn’t “tolerate abuse against our team members” (via News.com.au).

The video has also been slammed by Victorian premier Dan Andrews, who had absolutely no time for it.

“This is not about human rights, there’s 10 families that are going to be burying someone in the next few days. Wear a mask, it’s not too much to ask,” he said when asked about the video during a Sunday press conference

“And what’s more, the nurse who will be treating you or a loved one they’ll be wearing a mask so you wear one to prevent that nurse from having to treat more patients.

“It can’t get any more serious than that, that 10 families are currently planning funerals and the youngest among them, they’ve lost someone in their forties.”

Twitter, meanwhile, has, of course, torn this woman apart via dumb jokes, including a spoof of a Bunnings ad that spruiks their priceless tolerant staff “who put up with your bullshit”.

Find the videos below.