Telstra faces class action over Covid-19 vaccination policy in federal court

The telco giant is facing a class action by staff who claim its policy of mandating Covid-19 vaccines for 8,300 workers was unlawful.

Telstra, led by Andy Penn, faces a class action over its Covid-19 vaccination policy. Picture: Luis Gene

A former Telstra employee has filed a class action against the telco giant over a policy that mandated 8,300 workers receive Covid-19 vaccinations last year.

Former Telstra employee Jodi Wruck filed the class action in the Federal Court last week on behalf of some staff who refused the company’s direction to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Court documents filed in the Federal Court claimed “at least seven” group members had signed on to the class action.

Ms Wruck worked at Telstra as an installer repairer from October 2016 and her employment was terminated by the company last December after she refused to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Telstra announced in September that workers who had regular contact with customers or the public would have to receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by November.

Ms Wruck argued in court documents Telstra was required to give employees a “bona fide” opportunity to consult with the company over its vaccination policy since it would affect their working conditions.

“The proposed Covid-19 vaccination policy was a matter relating to and which affected the work health or safety of workers,” court documents said.

“Telstra was aware or ought to have been aware that the taking of Covid-19 vaccinations had been publicly reported to cause health problems in some individuals.”

Telstra employees were not given an opportunity to discuss the vaccination policy and may have wished to consult their doctors before agreeing to receive the vaccine, they continued.

The court documents allege Telstra breached its health and safety duty by introducing the vaccination policy because it “exposed … group members to a possible risk of adverse health including serious illness and death”.

Telstra could have instead allowed group members to wear masks and shields at work, social distance, deal with people virtually and undergo regular Covid-19 testing to reduce the risks of employees contracting the virus, they continued.

The alternative measures were “more or equally effective and less burdensome”, the court documents said.

The class action also alleged Telstra broke anti-discrimination law because Ms Wruck’s opinion that she should have “freedom of choice [over] … what to put in her body” was a “political belief”.

Ms Wruck allegedly wrote to Telstra in November saying she did not receive a Covid-19 vaccine and that she was “willing to compromise” her role at the company.

The class action is seeking orders preventing Telstra from enforcing its Covid-19 vaccination policy and forcing the company to pay damages to the group members.

A spokesman for Telstra told The Australian on Wednesday that 8,300 Telstra employees had to be vaccinated under the company’s policy because they faced an increased risk of infection with Covid-19.

Most of the employees who were required to be vaccinated under Telstra’s policy were also subject to state and territory vaccine mandates, he said.

“We undertook extensive consultation before we introduced our vaccination policy, including extending the period for consultation and making changes to our policy approach based on constructive feedback from our employees and unions,” the spokesman said.

“Since introducing our vaccination policy in September 2021 we’ve had a very small number of people who have decided not to get vaccinated.

“We remain confident the right approach has been taken to protect our employees and customers, and is consistent with recent legal decisions regarding vaccination.”