Qantas will face sentencing in a criminal court after a judge found the airline breached workplace health and safety laws in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The decision has been hailed as a victory for workers by the transport union after SafeWork NSW brought the rare prosecution against Qantas Ground Services (QGS).
The criminal case was launched after the aviation giant's subsidiary stood down a trained health and safety representative hours after he directed others to cease work.
The February 2020 direction related to the cleaning and servicing of planes arriving from China and came the day after the federal government closed its borders to direct flights from that country.
Qantas later outlined several reasons in a letter as to why it suspended Theo Seremetidis from his job, but NSW District Court judge David Russell said that was an unsuccessful attempt to find additional reasons to back up its conduct.
"I have found that the reason for QGS engaging in discriminatory conduct towards Mr Seremetidis was because he exercised a power or performed a function as a health and safety representative," he said in his judgment on Thursday.
The high-lift truck driver at Sydney Airport told the court his direction was based on government orders, bulletins and medical research indicating the virus could infect before symptoms emerged.
It came two days after Qantas provided employees medical advice that said the threat of infection outside China was very low and the risk of contracting the virus through normal duties was "extremely low".
Qantas unsuccessfully argued the worker could not have held a reasonable concern on February 2 as he had not raised the alarm days earlier.
It also made hay of the lack of prior consultation.
While agreeing discussion did not occur, the court found Qantas had not been concerned with starting a discussion or resolving the issue when it stood Mr Seremetidis down.
Mr Seremetidis was later sacked in a mass, unlawful redundancy but the court deemed him a reliable witness who had attempted to carry out his health and safety duties "conscientiously and carefully".
The court dismissed other charges alleging the letter to Mr Seremetidis constituted a threat and that his position was illegally altered.
Speaking after the decision, Mr Seremetidis said had experienced months of anxiety and depression as a result of the case.
"I was doing what I thought was the right thing and that was being punished for it because it didn't suit the company," he said.
"And they were willing to punish someone rather than actually rectify the issue."
Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine hailed the outcome as a victory for workers and workplace health and safety representatives across the country.
"This is a victory today for a hero, Theo, against the villain, Qantas," he said.
Safework NSW and Qantas can appeal the court's decision, but Mr Kaine called on the airline to respect the verdict and immediately compensate Mr Seremetidis.
"We've been vindicated that he did the right thing," he said.
The NSW parliamentary secretary for workplace health and safety, Mark Buttigieg, said the decision was hugely significant and thanked Mr Seremetidis for bringing the case.
In a statement, Qantas said it was reviewing the decision.
"We recognise that the initial stages of the pandemic caused a lot of uncertainty for our people, customers and the business more broadly," it said.
"Our medical and safety teams worked tirelessly to provide daily updates to employees and to put effective controls and procedures in place to help protect our people and customers."
Australian Associated Press
