Qantas fined $250k for illegally standing down ground crew worker Theo Seremetidis during Covid

Qantas has learnt its fate after it was found guilty of illegally standing down an employee who voiced safety concerns during the Covid pandemic.

Qantas has been fined after it was found guilty of illegally standing down an employee. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Qantas’s leadership has been blasted after the embattled airline was convicted of illegally standing down an employee who voiced safety concerns.

The national airline was ordered to pay $250,000 by Judge David Russell at the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday for its actions against Theo Seremetidis.

The lift truck driver was stood down from his role with the Qantas Ground Services in February 2020 after he gave his colleagues a direction to stop unsafe work.

As the elected health and safety representative, Mr Seremetidis was concerned about the risk of exposure to Covid for employees who cleaned aircraft inbound from China.

“Conduct of Qantas Ground Services towards Mr Seremetidis was quite shameful,” Justice Russell said on Wednesday.

“Even when he was stood down and under investigation, QGS attempted to manufacture additional reasons for its actions.”

Justice Russell further described Qantas’ conduct as deliberate and in the interest of advancing its commercial interest, and that its “discriminatory” nature was known.

“There was a gross power imbalance between senior managers at QGS and Mr Seremetidis, a part-time employee on a modest wage,” Justice Russell told the court.

“The fact that QGS might have been committing discriminatory conduct should not just should have been known to them, but was specifically pointed out to QGS.”

Theo Seremetidis was stood down by Qantas in February 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Justice Russell last year said Qantas had engaged in “discriminatory conduct” when it breached workplace health and safety laws by standing down Mr Seremetidis.

Half of the $250,000 fine will be paid to the prosecution, with the flying kangaroo also ordered to pay costs to Safe Work NSW who investigated the claim.

It was also to pay Mr Seremetidis a further $21,000 for the economic loss and “hurt and humiliation” he endured as a result of the airline’s illegal action within 28 days.

Speaking outside court, Mr Seremetidis described “living in fear” following his standing down in 2020 and said Wednesday’s result meant he could “finally move on”.

“I couldn't have been any happier today, that’s the best result we could have had. I’m very happy with the conviction,” Mr Seremetidis said.

“That (the conviction) is the only thing, in my opinion, that will deter Qantas and other companies in the future from doing the same thing.”

NSW senator and former Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon said the conviction was an opportunity for Qantas to “turn over a new leaf”.

“The finding by the court and the criminal conviction of Qantas is a significant blight on its reputation yet again,” Mr Sheldon said outside court.

“To see executives still sitting there that have been responsible … says Qantas still has a long way to go before it starts being held accountable.

“This is an opportunity for Qantas to turn over a new leaf.”

Mr Sheldon called on outgoing chair Richard Goyder and legal counsel Andrew Finch to resign immediately and Qantas to retract bonuses paid to them.

The conviction was welcomed by Work Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis and SafeWork NSW head Trent Curtin, as well as TWU National secretary Michael Kaine.

NSW MLC Mark Buttigieg told the media he also welcomed the “historic decision” and said it was significant for the protection of health and safety representatives.

Qantas was found guilty of breaching health and safety laws. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The court was previously told Mr Seremetidis’ colleagues could not contact him about workplace safety concerns while he was stood down from the Qantas ground crew.

Mr Seremetidis did not return to work and instead became one of the 1700 staff members terminated during the pandemic and unlawfully replaced with outsourced staff.

Qantas’ barrister Bruce Hodgkinson SC earlier argued that there was no precedent for the judge to consider, only a maximum penalty of $500,000.

Mr Hodgkinson accepted the decision to stand Mr Seremetidis down was “wrong” and Qantas had apologised but said the move was a result of Covid concerns.

In a statement, Qantas said it accepted that penalty imposed by the court and “encouraged employees to report all safety-related matters”.

“Last week, we agreed to compensation for Theo Seremetidis and the court has also today made orders for that compensation to be paid,” the statement said.

“We acknowledged in court the impact that this incident had on Mr Seremetidis and apologised to him.

“Safety has always been our No.1 priority and we continue to encourage our employees to report all safety related matters.”

Prosecutor Matthew Moir earlier argued that Qantas should also pay a hefty fine, stating the airline had prioritised its commercial interests over the safety of its employees.

Originally published as Qantas fined $250k for illegally standing down ground crew worker Theo Seremetidis during Covid