A construction union official and his union have been fined $24,000 after he racially abused a site representative on a Western Australian construction project.
The Federal Court handed the CFMEU a $20,000 penalty and Bradley Upton a $4000 fine after what it described as "disgraceful behaviour" in October 2012.
Mr Upton made "obscene remarks" to one site representative and challenged another to hit him, after he became angry about a meeting room assigned for talks with workers.
On a second site visit Mr Upton walked into an out-of-bounds area, despite being told he could only remain in the meeting room.
The court praised the site representative for his self-control and for not retaliating against Mr Upton.
The Fair Work Building Commission's director Nigel Hadgkiss described the behaviour as appalling.
"We continue to see the CFMEU and its officials take the law into their own hands," he said in a statement on Sunday, adding no one is above the law.
To date the CFMEU and its affiliates have been fined more than $6.1 million in cases brought by the commission and previous agencies, it said.
Comment was being sought from the CFMEU.
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