Brisbane Subway employee fired after refusing service to customer carrying Australian flag

A Subway employee at a Brisbane store has been fired after footage emerged of her refusing to serve a customer carrying an Australian flag during anti-immigration protests on August 31, the video shows. The confrontation occurred as thousands gathered for the March for Australia rallies in Brisbane and in other cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

Video footage filmed by Brett Sengstock, 33, at the Brisbane store shows the employee telling one of the men she is not serving him. “Why’s that?” the man asks. “Because that flag upsets me,” the worker replies. The exchange includes remarks about where the customer was born, and the counter chatter features a younger employee allegedly telling protesters she would not serve them, calling them Nazis and using a derogatory term. In one portion, the customer asks if the worker is the manager, and she responds that she had been assigned to deal with the situation and accuses the protesters of white nationalism, while mentioning the Eureka flag and what is described as black land. The man responds, “What the f***? What’s in your brain?” The footage was filmed at a Subway in Brisbane by Brett Sengstock, who said he decided to document the moment after another person claimed to have been denied service earlier in the day.

Bec Freedom, also known as Rebecca Walker, a key organizer of the March for Australia, published the footage on social media on Monday, calling the incident shocking and urging accountability. Sengstock said he attended the march with a friend and asserted that he was not the only person to be refused service by the same employee, claiming multiple customers were turned away at the store that day. “Everyone got denied all day,” he said, framing it in the context of broader concerns about immigration and housing affordability.

A Subway spokesman said the incident was addressed promptly. “The conduct of the individual involved does not reflect the values or standards of Subway,” the company said. “The safety, dignity and comfort of every guest is paramount, and we do not tolerate discrimination, harassment or aggression of any kind. Our franchisees and their restaurant team members are committed to providing a welcoming environment for every guest, every day.”

The incident unfolds as the March for Australia rallies drew thousands of participants across major Australian cities, highlighting ongoing tension around immigration and national identity in public discourse. The event in Brisbane, along with similar gatherings in Sydney and Melbourne, featured advocacy against immigration policies and sparked renewed scrutiny of how businesses respond to politically charged behavior on their premises.