Qantas hit with hefty fine for ‘discriminatory’ treatment of a cleaner in early 2020

The embattled airline has been hit with a $250,000 fine for its treatment of a cleaner who refused to work on aircraft returning from China in early 2020.

Qantas has been savaged by a New South Wales District Court judgment, and fined $250,000 for its treatment of a cleaner who refused to work on aircraft returning from China as the Covid crisis erupted.

The penalty followed the ruling Qantas was guilty of discriminatory conduct towards Theo Seremetidis, who was last week awarded $21,000 compensation.

SafeWork NSW brought the criminal action against Qantas after Mr Seremetidis, a Transport Workers Union health and safety representative, was stood down when he raised concerns about the welfare of cleaners sent onto aircraft returning from China in early 2020.

In his ruling, Judge David Russell said the offence involved significant culpability by Qantas, and described the conduct of management towards Mr Seremetidis as “quite shameful”.

“The behaviour of Qantas was deliberate conduct designed to advance (Qantas’s) own commercial interests at the expense of not only Mr Seremetidis but also at the expense of workers who were denied his counsel and advice in relation to a vital health and safety issue,” said Judge Russell.

“Even when (Mr Seremetidis) was stood down and was under investigation, Qantas attempted to manufacture additional reasons for its actions.”

Judge Russell noted that the maximum penalty for the offence was $500,000 but he took into account Qantas’ co-operation with SafeWork NSW during the investigation and the fact the airline had no prior convictions.

A Qantas spokeswoman said they “accepted the penalties in relation to an incident that occurred in the early stages of the pandemic”.

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

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

TWU health and safety rep Theo Seremetidis outside the NSW District Court. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA NewsWire

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the verdict was an “historic moment for corporate accountability over workplace safety”.

“Convicting Qantas was the right decision. Qantas put workers’ lives in danger during a global pandemic, denied them the representation of their trained health and safety representative, and treated Theo Seremetidis appallingly as a warning to workers that their safety concerns were not welcome,” said Mr Kaine.

“Deterrents are important, but prevention is the best way to protect workers’ safety. We need to rein in Qantas and keep its operations in check through an independent Safe and Secure Skies Commission.”

The Qantas spokeswoman said safety was always their number one priority, and they “continued to encourage employees to report all safety related matters”.

The judgment is the first in a series of court-ordered penalties expected to be imposed on Qantas, which is back in court later this month over the illegal outsourcing of more than 1600 ground workers.

Mediation between Qantas and the Transport Workers Union was unable to decide on a suitable level of compensation for the workers, so it’s now up to Federal Court Justice Michael Lee to determine.

Ten days of hearing have been scheduled from March 18 with Qantas expected to push for compensation payments to be modest, on the basis the workers have already received redundancy payouts.

A penalty will also be imposed against Qantas for breaching the Fair Work Act.

Qantas also faced court action brought by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission over the alleged sale of thousands of tickets on already cancelled flights.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb has indicated she would like to see a penalty in excess of $250m imposed on Qantas to send a message to other companies about such behaviour.

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson recently indicated she wanted the ACCC matter to be resolved as soon as possible, to help rebuild trust in the airline.

Last month, Qantas announced a $1.25bn half year underlying profit for the six months to December 31, 2023, down from the previous year’s $1.43bn gain.