Embattled airline Qantas has been fined a quarter of a million dollars after it was found guilty of illegally standing down an employee in the early days of the Covid pandemic.
The national airline was ordered to pay $250,000 by Judge David Russell at the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday for its actions against Theo Seremetidis.
The lift truck driver was stood down from his role with the Qantas Ground Services in February 2020 after he gave his colleagues a direction to stop unsafe work.
As the elected health and safety representative, Mr Seremetidis was concerned about the risk of exposure to Covid for employees who cleaned aircraft inbound from China.
“Conduct of Qantas Ground Services towards Mr Seremetidis was quite shameful,” Justice Russell said on Wednesday.
“Even when he was stood down and under investigation, QGS attempted to manufacture additional reasons for its actions.”
Justice Russell further described Qantas’ conduct as deliberate and in the interest of advancing its commercial interest and said there had been a “power imbalance”.
“There was a gross power imbalance between senior managers at QGS and Mr Seremetidis, a part-time employee on a modest wage,” Justice Russell told the court.
Justice Russell last year said Qantas had engaged in “discriminatory conduct” when it breached workplace health and safety laws by standing down Mr Seremetidis.
“I find that (Qantas) saw the giving of the directions by Mr Seremetidis to cease work as a threat to the conduct of business,” Justice Russell told the court.
“In particular, a threat to the ability of (Qantas) to clean and service aircraft and get them back in the air.”
Qantas last week agreed to pay Mr Seremetidis a sum of $21,000 for the economic loss and “hurt and humiliation” he endured as a result of the airline’s illegal action in 2020.
The court was previously told Mr Seremetidis’ colleagues could not contact him about workplace safety concerns while he was stood down from the Qantas ground crew.
Mr Seremetidis did not return to work and instead became one of the 1700 staff members terminated during the pandemic and unlawfully replaced with outsourced staff.
Qantas’ barrister Bruce Hodgkinson SC earlier argued that there was no precedent for the judge to consider, only a maximum penalty of $500,000.
Mr Hodgkinson accepted the decision to stand Mr Seremetidis down was “wrong” and Qantas had since apologised but said the move was a result of taking Covid concerns seriously.
Prosecutor Matthew Moir earlier argued that Qantas should also pay a hefty fine, stating the airline had prioritised its commercial interests over the safety of its employees.