A video recording of the January incident in which Lei Guo appears to slap the waitress following an altercation over a suspected wage dispute has drawn widespread attention in Australia and China.
Mr Guo was sentenced in the Adelaide Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to a two-and-a-half-year good behaviour bond and was issued with a $200 fine.
The court heard Mr Gou, a friend of the owner of Fun Tea, said the waitress has been “rude and abrupt” when she took his family’s order.
It was heard that Mr Gou misinterpreted an argument he overheard between the waitress and her boss, wrongly thinking she was criticising him.
Mr Gou nodded from the dock as Magistrate John Fahey recounted the details of the assault.
“Your assessment of what happened was really wrong," the magistrate said.
“You then slapped the waitress …The assault was delivered with significant force, it was delivered without warning … You could have hurt that young woman. You had no right to strike her at all.”
Magistrate Fahey said he did not know of any assault which had received as much public scrutiny, noting Mr Gou’s China-based parents had been harassed and even received a death threat after a video of the assault was shared on Chinese social media platforms.
The court also noted Mr Gou had a good reputation particularly in Adelaide’s Chinese community.
Character witnesses were presented on Mr Gou’s behalf, along with a psychologist’s report, which suggested he was a low risk of reoffending.
Magistrate Fahey said he had no doubt Mr Gou was a good person but “good people sometimes do bad things”.
The victim of the attack previously told ABC her mental health has declined as a result of the video, and she is afraid of strangers, going outside and never working again.
The incident prompted calls for better pay protection for vulnerable migrant workers.
Regulators have acted after receiving intelligence indicating potential breaches of workplace laws by some businesses in the area.
Investigations by Safe Work SA and the Fair Work Ombudsman into Fun Tea are ongoing.
In July, labour rights organisations in Adelaide have seen a rise in enquiries from migrant workers due to an increase in awareness of underpayment in the casual workforce, where hourly rates in some Chinese businesses in South Australia are $12 an hour and can be as low as $3 to $5 an hour.
