Landmark victory for women suing Qatar Airways over invasive internal searches at Hamad
Australian women subjected to invasive examinations at Hamad International Airport have won the right to sue Qatar Airways in a landmark court victory.
Five Australian women have won the right to sue Qatar Airways over invasive internal searches conducted at Hamad International Airport, following an important partial victory in their appeal to the Full Federal Court.
The incident in October 2020 shocked the world, with the Australians among dozens of women ordered off aircraft and into ambulances for internal examinations to which they had not consented.
The move was ordered by airport police following the discovery of a newborn baby in a bin inside Hamad International Airport.
Deeply distressed by the experience and frustrated at the lack of apology by Qatar Airways, five Australian women sought to hold the airline, the airport operations company MATAR and Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority to account in court.
In a ruling delivered in April 2024, Justice John Halley found there was no prospect of the women’s case succeeding under the Montreal Convention because the examination did not take place in the course of embarking or disembarking the aircraft.
The women represented by Marque Lawyers appealed to the Full Federal Court, arguing the examinations did occur in the process of disembarking, and the airline should be held liable because it was clear crew knew what was happening.
On Thursday, Justice Angus Stewart delivered the judgment reached by Justice James Stellios, Justice Debra Mortimer and himself, finding the primary judge erred in summarily dismissing the claims.
“There is no sufficiently high degree of certainty that what happened to the (women) in the ambulance could not ultimately be found to have been in the ‘the course of any operations of embarking or disembarking’,” Justice Stewart said.
“That issue can only be decided at trial and not on a summary basis.”
The Full Federal Court also found the primary judge was wrong to strike out the women’s pleadings against MATAR seeking liability for the conduct of those who carried out the examinations in the ambulance.
“It cannot be concluded with sufficient confidence at this stage that the women have or will have no basis to plead that the ‘nurse’ was an employee or a true agent of MATAR,” Justice Stewart said.
“It is also an error to conclude that MATAR’s duty of care cannot possibly extend to the circumstances in and around the ambulance.”
With regard to the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, the Full Federal Court dismissed the appeal, on the basis the proceeding did not concern activities in managing a commercial airport.
As a result, the orders of the primary judge in relation to Qatar Airways and MATAR were set aside, and the two entities ordered to pay the costs of the appeal.
The matter will now return to the Federal Court where it is expected to go to a full trial.
Marque Lawyers partner Damian Sturzaker said his clients were pleased with the decision to allow the case against Qatar Airways and MATAR to continue.
“Our clients endured a traumatic experience on that night in Doha and they deserve to have their day in court and compensation for their suffering,” Mr Sturzaker said.
“They have shown enormous courage in standing up for what they believe is right and we will continue to support them as the case continues to the Federal Court.”
In 2023, the case was cited by Transport Minister Catherine King as one of the reasons for the decision to block Qatar Airways’ application for more flights into Australia.
Ms King revealed her decision in a letter to the women, after they wrote to her expressing their concerns about the airline getting greater access.
On Thursday, Ms King said it would be “inappropriate to comment on the Full Federal Court decision because the matter remained subject to private legal proceedings”.
Qatar Airways has always denied any wrongdoing, arguing the state-owned airline could not be held accountable for the actions of airport police.
Earlier this year, the Foreign Investment Review Board approved the sale of a 25 per cent stake in Virgin Australia to Qatar Airways.
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Originally published as Landmark victory for women suing Qatar Airways over invasive internal searches at Hamad
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