judge (illustrative)
judge (illustrative)Reuters

A female lawyer has been charged with discrimination after she blurted out: "I cannot stand Jewish people" during an office rant, The Daily Mail reported.

After a three-and-a-half-year investigation, Danielle Morris, 34, has been fined $3,290 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and ordered to pay an additional $6,909 in costs.

The court issued no further disciplinary sanctions, ruling the remarks were “foolish and ignorant rather than malicious”.

Morris was taken to court after a Jewish staff member overheard her offensive comments, which reportedly came about after she was upset that a Jewish man jumped the line at the medical office where Morris had waited to take one of her children to see a doctor.

“'Please do not say that,” Morris’ employee said upon hearing the comments.

Morris responded to the complaint by simply saying, “I don’t care, I cannot stand them”, according to the Daily Mail.

Five days after the incident, the employee of the law firm and brought a racial and religious discrimination claim against Morris and the practice.

In May 2011 she was awarded an undisclosed sum in damages after the employment tribunal ruled in her favor.

A year later Morris was called before a second panel, where she denied the comment.

Her attorney claimed Morris had "not been aware" of the long history of the persecution of Jewish people.

"Because of her age she has had limited direct contact with those who had been familiar with the discovery of the horrors of the Holocaust or the attitudes which had led to these events,” he said.

She had no intention of causing offence, he told the panel.