Qantas has been fined $250,000 and convicted for illegally standing down former worker, Theo Seremetidis during the pandemic after he raised concerns about the risk of COVID-19 to staff cleaning aircraft from China.
Seremetides, who was an elected health and safety representative at the time employed by subsidiary Qantas Ground Services (QGS) at Sydney International Airport, was sidelined in early 2020.
NSW District Court Judge David Russell last year found the airline engaged in discriminatory conduct, accepting that Seremetidis was unfairly kept cut off from other staff who were seeking his help.
Qantas last week agreed to pay Seremetidis $21,000 for economic and non-economic loss.
Today, Judge Russell ordered that QGS be convicted and fined $250,000, finding that the conduct involved significant culpability and was deliberate rather than inadvertent.
“The conduct against Mr Seremetidis was quite shameful,” the judge said.
Half of the fine was ordered to be paid to the prosecutor.
The NSW Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis has welcomed the landmark conviction and fine of Qantas.
“As a first principle no Work Health and Safety rep should be stood down for doing their job,” Ms Cotsis said.
“I greatly appreciate the work that the TWU has done to support workplace health and safety. I am also very pleased SafeWork took the initiative in this case to ensure the rights of Health and Safety reps were protected.
“Let this case stand as a warning, not just to Qantas but to all employers, not to discriminate against their health and safety reps.
“Given this was a first-of-its-kind case, the New South Wales Government will take time to review the outcome.”
In a statement a Qantas spokesperson said the airline accepted the penalties.
“We agreed to compensation for Theo Seremetidis and the court has today made orders for that compensation to be paid,” the spokesperson said.
“We acknowledged in court the impact that this incident had on Mr Seremetidis and apologised to him.”
Source: ABC
