Ex-Virgin chief pilot takes aim at CEO Jayne Hrdlicka in unfair dismissal claim

Virgin’s former chief pilot has provided several examples of how he was allegedly ‘bullied’ by CEO Jayne Hrdlicka in court documents.

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka is the target of an unfair dismissal claim lodged by the airline’s former chief pilot Michael Fitzgerald. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Virgin Australia’s former chief pilot has claimed CEO Jayne Hrdlicka referred to him as “another one of the Ansett old boys club” and blamed him for the failure of a new enterprise agreement, in an unfair dismissal claim.

Michael Fitzgerald, 57, lodged his statement of claim with the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane ahead of a scheduled mediation in November.

The document detailed a number of examples of Ms Hrdlicka’s treatment of Mr Fitzgerald which he alleged constituted workplace bullying.

Virgin has denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit “baseless litigation by a disgruntled former employee”.

Mr Fitzgerald claimed Ms Hrdlicka held him responsible for the failure of a new enterprise agreement for pilots, which was voted down by 90 per cent of participants.

“Specifically in a one-on-one meeting during February 2021, Ms Hrdlicka told the applicant the failure of the vote was his fault because he didn’t get out and ‘rally the troops’ (notwithstanding Covid lockdowns across Australia at the time),” said the document.

“ (Mr Fitzgerald) was further blamed by Ms Hrdlicka for a $4m cost blowout in the Christmas-New Year 2020/21 flight schedule to which the CEO herself had directed additional flights.”

Virgin’s former chief pilot Michael Fitzgerald is suing the airline for unfair dismissal, claiming he was terminated after complaining of bullying by CEO Jayne Hrdlicka. Picture: LinkedIn

The former chief pilot also claimed Ms Hrdlicka had accused him of lacking empathy and communication skills especially in relation to the airline’s first officers.

Mr Fitzgerald responded that he’d mentored hundreds of first officers throughout his career, to which Ms Hrdlicka replied “oh come on Mike, no BS, you’re just like all the other senior flight ops managers that I had to deal with at Jetstar; you’re only concerned about the senior guys”.

When Mr Fitzgerald was advised by chief operating officer Stuart Aggs that Ms Hrdlicka wanted him placed on a performance improvement plan, he protested and complained he was being bullied by the CEO.

“In consequence of the aforesaid acts of workplace bullying, (Mr Fitzgerald) felt undervalued and lost all self esteem. He suffered depression and anxiety,” the document said.

“He commenced medical leave (soon after).”

Three months later he was contacted by Mr Aggs to discuss his return to work, and during an off-site meeting, Mr Fitzgerald was informed Ms Hrdlicka had lost confidence in him.

A proposal to return to work was made, that would see him moved out of the role of chief pilot and return to a flying command.

Mr Fitzgerald was suspicious of the plan having previously been overlooked for a flying command, and believed he was being forced out because of the bullying complaints he’d made.

He filed an application for a “stop bullying order” in December 2021 and on the morning the case was due to be heard, received a termination notice.

Virgin has denied any allegations of bullying or unfair dismissal, insisting Mr Fitzgerald was sacked because he was “unfit to fly”.

The airline said no allegations of bullying had been made, or details of any illness provided when Mr Fitzgerald took leave in July 2021.

In a statement, a Virgin spokeswoman said Mr Fitzgerald was “treated fairly and was not bullied”.

“He has now fabricated and misrepresented the details of interactions with two senior executives in court documents,” the spokeswoman said.

The matter will go to mediation on November 15, before returning to the Federal Circuit Court for a directions hearing before Justice Sal Vasta in December.

Virgin is also defending an unfair dismissal claim brought by former flight attendant Donna Waterhouse, who alleged she was bullied and “set up to fail” after returning to work for the airline last year.

Mr Fitzgerald had worked for Virgin since 2003, and was promoted to chief pilot and head of flying operations in 2017.