'Go blonde and wear a push up bra': Pilot sues Qantas

The female pilot who pioneered gender-equality for Qantas is now suing the airline, claiming she received a poor performance report after she rejected sexual advances from a captain.

Davida Forshaw. Picture Andrew Tauber

The female pilot who pioneered gender-equality for Qantas is now suing the airline for sexual harassment and discrimination.

Update: Australia's top female pilot has slammed the toxic airline culture. She tells The Oz a male colleague told her, 'If women were meant to fly the sky would be pink'. Read it here.

The female pilot who pioneered gender-equality for Qantas is now suing the airline for sexual harassment and discrimination. 

Davida Forshaw is claiming she received a poor performance report after she rejected sexual advances from an airline Captain, was instructed to get coffee for her male counterparts while participating in an engineering briefing, and was told she “would do a lot better” if she dyed her hair and wore a push up bra, according to a statement of claim filed to the Federal Court last Wednesday.  

Forshaw, who has worked for Qantas for 23 years and mentored aspiring female pilots, has demanded the airline implement gender quotas to increase the percentage of female pilots it employs.

Davida Forshaw speaking at the Women in Aviation/Aerospace Australia Summit October 19th 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Facebook/The International Society of Women Airline Pilots

The veteran pilot claimed she received a subpar performance review after she rebuffed sexual advances from her superior in a Bangkok hotel. When she tried to report the issue to her Fleet Manager, she said she was told “No, he is a Qantas Captain, everyone will believe him and not you”. 

In her claim, Forshaw also asserted she was once told she “would do a lot better if she dyed her hair blonde and wore a push up bra.” 

On International Women’s Day in 2018, Forshaw said two male pilots told her they could not wait for “this shit” to be over and that everything was all about women. 

Whilst signing in for duty on a B747 Classic trip to Rome in 2002, Forshaw alleged the Captain appeared visibly shocked that she was a woman, and commented “I thought your name was Davo, what f..king use will you be to me on this trip, I bet you don’t even drink beer”.

Davida Forshaw.Picture Andrew Tauber

During a flight in 2019, Forshaw claimed the Captain told a sexually-explicit joke. The Captain then looked at Forshaw and said “You’re not going to be one of these ‘O’ women, are you?” When Forshaw asked what he meant, he replied: “Women who are O-ffended at everything.”

Forshaw is the Director JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) of Piloting Mindset, a consulting company for airline pilots. She is employed by Qantas but is currently on medical leave.

The legal filing comes four years after Qantas commissioned former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick to undertake the Broderick Review into the company’s workplace culture among pilots and cabin crew. 

Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick AO. Picture: Supplied

The review found more than one quarter of female pilots reported experiences of sexual harassment in the past 12 months and female pilots were three times more likely than male pilots to experience sexual harassment by a colleague.

Over the space of three months, Forshaw reported five complaints to human resources in regards to three senior male pilots she claimed discriminated against her because of her gender. 

During that time Forshaw was attempting to become a Captain, and she detailed instances in which the pilots allegedly stood in the way of her achieving that promotion. 

Forshaw claimed one of the pilots, during a training session briefing, rolled his eyes at her when she asked a relevant, technical question and said: “Why on earth would you think that is an important question?” Forshaw said the pilot was “derisive, combative, and hostile” towards her. 

During another training simulation, Forshaw claimed another one of the pilots repeatedly rolled his eyes at her when she would ask questions, and was “rude and disrespectful.”

Forshaw alleged two of the pilots would cut her out of their conversations during important training sessions, deliberately choosing discussion points she could not contribute to.

A Qantas spokesman told The Oz the airline had “zero tolerance for bullying or discrimination” and takes allegations “extremely seriously.”

“We took immediate action when Ms Forshaw made her complaint after being unsuccessful in a module required to be promoted to a Captain,” the spokesman said.

“The employees she accused of discrimination or misconduct were stood down from work while we investigated. The claims of discrimination were not substantiated.

“Ms Forshaw has recently made additional allegations about other historical incidents. We were not previously aware of these incidents and have asked Ms Forshaw for further information so we can investigate.”

By way of compensation, Forshaw demands she receives a pecuniary penalty, a monetary fine collected by the civil court, for the alleged harassment and discrimination she underwent while working at the airline. She has also ordered that Qantas establish a quota system to increase the percentage of female pilots it employs.