Qantas ordered to pay ex-cleaner compo in first of series of penalties looming for airline

Qantas has been ordered to pay a former cleaner after the airline stood him down after airing concerns about working on aircraft coming from China amid the pandemic.

A former Qantas cleaner who raised concerns about working on aircraft returning from China as the Covid crisis erupted will be paid $21,000 in damages.

Theo Seremetidis was stood down by Qantas which claimed he was unreasonably instructing others not to work on the planes.

His job was later outsourced by Qantas in a move the Federal Court ruled to be unlawful.

SafeWork New South Wales pursued Qantas for “discriminatory conduct” in relation to the treatment of Mr Seremetidis in an unprecedented criminal prosecution.

Late last year, District Court judge David Russell found Qantas had engaged in discriminatory conduct by standing down the “conscientious” Mr Seremetidis.

Former Qantas cleaner Theo Seremetidis arriving at the NSW District Court on Wednesday. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The cleaner was a Transport Workers Union health and safety representative at the time, and on Wednesday the TWU welcomed the compensation order, saying it marked a “historic win for workers’ rights and safety advocacy”.

The payment order included $6000 for economic loss and $15,000 for non-economic loss.

Further consideration was being given by the court to the penalties Qantas should pay.

TWU NSW state secretary Richard Olsen said Theo was a workplace hero who had “fearlessly confronted one of Australia’s major corporate adversaries and come out on top”.

“This case has set a precedent for holding corporations to account and also sent a powerful message about the paramount importance of health and safety representatives,” said Mr Olsen.

“The illegal stand down inflicted mental and emotional strain on Theo, who valiantly fought against an opponent with seemingly endless resources but he never gave up.”

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the $21,000 compensation order was “a drop in the ocean” for Qantas, which last week announced a half year underlying profit of $1.25bn.

He said there were still penalties to be decided, as well as upcoming compensation and penalty hearings for the 1700 workers whose jobs were illegally outsourced by Qantas.

“Qantas can’t keep writing off legal bills as a cost of doing business,” said Mr Kaine.

“We need to see a complete cultural shift at Qantas.”

Mr Seremetidis said the case was “never about compensation for him but about holding Qantas to account for its actions”.

“The smallest thing Qantas could have done was to say sorry, but they haven’t even done that,” said Mr Seremetidis.

“In the darkest moments of this ordeal, it was the thought of my co-workers and their families that kept me going. Their safety is non-negotiable, and I refused to let Qantas get away with its behaviour.”

A Qantas statement said an apology was made to Mr Seremetidis in court on Wednesday, and noted the airline accepted the findings of the NSW District Court.

“Qantas has agreed to pay compensation for Theo Seremetidis in relation to an incident that occurred in the early stages of the pandemic,” said the statement.

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

“Safety has always been our number one priority and we continue to encourage our employees to report safety related matters.”

Qantas is also facing a class action over its handling of Covid travel and an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission lawsuit over the alleged sale of tickets on ghost flights.

CEO Vanessa Hudson has indicated she wanted the ACCC matter resolved to help rebuild trust in Qantas.