Australia’s Qantas airline faces a record $90 million fine for illegally laying off ground staff during the pandemic
Qantas, an Australian airline, was fined a record $90 million for unlawfully terminating ground crew during the epidemic.
Qantas Airways, the biggest airline in Australia, was heavily criticized by the Federal Court for its lack of remorse when it was compelled to pay a record $90 million ($58.6 million) for unlawfully terminating 1,800 ground employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to make sure the fine “could not be perceived as anything like the cost of doing business,” Federal Court Judge Michael Lee explained that it was the biggest penalty ever levied on a business under Australian labor regulations. He also criticized Qantas’ public relations and litigation tactics.
“I accept Qantas is sorry, but I am not convinced that this measure of regret is not, at least in significant measure … the wrong kind of sorry,” Lee stated, pointing out that the airline’s subsequent statements of regret seemed to be more concerned with the harm to the company’s reputation than with the lives of its employees.
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), the group that initiated the lawsuit against Qantas, will get $50 million of the fine. “In spite of everything, we faced a giant … that had proven to be vicious, and we prevailed,” stated Michael Kaine, national secretary of TWU.
A December agreement on a $120 million compensation fund for the fired employees preceded the court’s decision. The Federal Court concluded in 2021 that Qantas’ senior management had engaged in “adverse action” by laying off 1,820 ground crew and shifting their job to contractors during the 2020 pandemic, which prohibited employees from expressing their rights at work and organizing a union.
Qantas was criticized by Lee for making public declarations that “spun” the 2021 ruling while disregarding findings of illegal activity and for appealing the decision right away without taking the 431-paragraph ruling into account. He also emphasized how the airline had refused to allow Vanessa Hudson, its CEO, to speak in court.
“It is one thing for the ‘Qantas News Room’ to release press releases apologizing on behalf of a CEO; it is another entirely for written declarations of remorse, acknowledgment of wrongdoing, and cultural transformation to be put to the test in a court of law,” Lee stated.
Maurice Blackburn Attorneys for the TWU described the penalty as “record-breaking,” citing the “monumental scale of Qantas’ wrongdoing.” The decision sends a strong message, according to labor law expert Shae McCrystal: “It signals to employers that if they break the law, trade unions may receive penalties to assist them in enforcing the act.”
According to Qantas, the fine will be paid. “We deeply regret our actions towards all 1,820 ground handling workers and their families,” CEO Vanessa Hudson stated.
