Australia’s Qantas Airways fined for firing employees who raised COVID-19 safety concerns By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Qantas plane is seen in the domestic terminal at Sydney Airport, Australia, November 16, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Qantas Airways will be fined A$250,000 ($162,375) for illegally firing a worker who instructed staff not to clean aircraft arriving from China in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fine was a blow to the airline’s reputation.

The New South Wales District Court imposed the fine on Wednesday after finding the airline guilty of “acts of discrimination on a prohibited ground” over last year’s dismissals. The charges were brought by SafeWork NSW, the state’s workplace safety office.

Sydney Airport lift truck driver Theo Seremetidis raised concerns about the safety of workers assigned to cleaning aircraft arriving from China in February 2020, according to SafeWork.

He used his position as union health and safety representative to order staff not to clean planes and Qantas fired him, according to SafeWork. The airline was fined and ordered to pay Seremetidis A$21,000.

“No workplace health and safety officer should be dismissed for doing their job,” NSW Workplace Health and Safety Minister Sophie Cotsis said in a statement.

“Let this incident serve as a warning not only to Qantas but to all employers not to discriminate against health and safety officers.”

Qantas said it had accepted the fine and “acknowledged in court the impact this incident had on Mr Seremetidis and apologized to him”.

“Safety has always been our top priority and we continue to encourage employees to report any safety-related issues,” the airline added.

The fine comes as Qantas struggles to win back the support of investors and the public after a series of lawsuits and controversies led to the early retirement of longtime CEO Alan Joyce last year.

The airline is still awaiting confirmation of how much it will have to pay after losing a separate lawsuit in 2020 for illegally firing 1,700 ground staff to prevent strikes and other industrial action.

Meanwhile, it is defending a lawsuit from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleging it sold thousands of tickets for flights that were canceled due to staff shortages and high demand after borders reopened in 2022.

($1 = 1.5396 Australian Dollars)