Qantas ordered to pay record fine over COVID-19 layoffs
Aug. 18 (UPI) -- An Australian court on Monday fined national flag carrier Qantas nearly $60 million for illegally firing more than 1,800 ground workers and then outsourcing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia's Transport Workers Union said in a statement that it was the largest employer penalty in Australian corporate history.
"Against all odds, TWU members have sent a $90 million warning to corporate Australia: you can't break the law and get away with it," the union said, referring to the amount Qantas was fined in Australian dollars.
Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said a little more than half of the penalty should be paid to the TWU, while the recipients of the remaining sum will be decided at a later hearing, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Lee said that while Qantas has expressed "genuine regrets" about the situation, he believes that "this more likely reflects the damage this case has done at the company rather than unique remorse for the damage done to the affected workers."
He said that the airline "resisted until it could resist no more."
Qantas said the Monday judgement holds the company "accountable for our actions."
"We sincerely apologize to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result," Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson said in a statement.
"The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families. The impact was felt not only by those who lost their jobs, but our entire workforce."
The ruling brings an end to a five-year fight by the TWU over Qantas's firing of some 1,800 workers and then outsourcing their jobs in 2020.
Qantas appealed through the Australian court system, with the High Court affirming that the airline had acted illegally by outsourcing the employment.
The Monday fine is on top of the roughly $78 million that Qantas agreed to pay eligible workers in December, after its failed bid arguing that it should not have to offer workers compensation.
"Qantas was not sorry to workers when it illegally outsourced these workers, many finding out they'd lost their jobs over loudspeaker in the lunch room. It was not sorry when it dragged them all the way to the High Court, or when it argued it should have to pay them no compensation at all," TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement.
"Qantas is only sorrow now that it has to pay the larges penalty fine of any employer in Australian corporate history."
The announcement comes about 14 months after Qantas reached a settlement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to pay a multi-million-dollar fine for booking flights that had previously been canceled.
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