A magistrate this morning slammed a Ballarat business owner for a "vitriolic and racist tirade" he made towards an Indian employee.
Keith Robbins, the owner and manager of Robbins Bakery, appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates Court this morning where he pleaded guilty to a charge of use a carriage service to offend.
The court heard Robbins, 51, sent a number of text messages to the employee of his Stocklands Wendouree bakery over a number of days, beginning on December 26 last year.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Michelle Kilburn said Robbins sent seven messages to the employee, including "Do you ever wash?", "go back to India" and "I'll dob you into immigration".
Senior Constable Kilburn told the court the employee later told Robbins that they had to go back to India to visit their sick father.
The court heard Robbins became angry and said "You Indians always do this", before the employee resigned.
Defence lawyer David Tamanika said his client was a hard worker, did not have a criminal history and was ashamed of his behaviour.
He said Robbins has no prejudice towards Indian people, but a "build-up of tension" caused his "brain snap".
"They simply didn't get on," he said.
"He's not proud of the way he's handled himself and it's not a reflection of the way he's lived his life."
Magistrate Michele Hodgson said Robbins should be embarrassed.
"You have 15 employees in two shops," she said.
"You should understand the level of professionalism required between employer and employee."
Ms Hodgson fined Robbins $1000 with conviction.
"This was nothing less than a vitriolic and racist tirade over the course of two or three days," she said.
"This type of behavior will not be tolerated."