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A job applicant has failed to convince a tribunal that he wasn't hired because the women who interviewed him didn't "like men", while seeking a primary-school-style punishment for their alleged discrimination.

The claim was not entirely vexatious, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal accepted, but the same could not be said of the remedies the candidate sought. Specifically, he wanted both the interviewers to write 10 times "in red pen on white paper 'I like men'"; he also argued he deserved higher damages for humiliation, "caused by the discrimination of someone to whom I am attracted".

In February 2021, the South-Australian-based man had responded to a Seek ad for a full-time junior solicitor with Sydney-based law firm DG Thompson Pty Ltd (DGT) noting he would be willing to move to NSW if it was a permanent full-time role. He signed his email correspondence with his first name, Dawn...