Milan Dehal, 29, who worked at Indian Masala Restaurant in Adelaide, had been fighting for almost 18 months for 1640.06 Australian dollars of salary.
The Industrial Relations Court awarded 15,000 dollars (USD 10,000) in compensation after manager Nicholas Sharma refused to pay him salary partly because he "can't even speak proper English", the Herald Sun reported.
During the hearing, Sharma denied he had to pay weekend penalty rates to Dehal for his work.
He had claimed that Nepalese-born Dehal was only entitled to 17.50 dollars an hour which is below the weekend award rate.
Dehal, meanwhile, said he had fought for the rights of other exploited workers.
"A lot of guys from the Indian community are being exploited. This was not just for myself, I wanted to set an example for others who are in the same situation and to show this is not acceptable," he said.
She told the court it was "highly likely" other workers in Sharma's employment were also being exploited.
Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie said Sharma had shown no "contrition."
"The respondent (Sharma) has shown complete contempt for the legal process and for the workplace laws," he said.
The Magistrate imposed a 15,000 dollars civil penalty and ordered Sharma to pay Dehal that amount within 28 days.
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