Latest news with #NoelHutley
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Qantas lashed for 'hollow' apology after almost 2,000 workers were axed from the airline in biggest case of illegal sacking in Australia's history
An apology by Qantas for sacking 1,820 ground crew rings 'wholly hollow' and it has failed to make changes that ensure such actions never happen again, a judge has been told. In the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday, Justice Michael Lee continued hearing submissions on the penalty to be imposed on Qantas for the biggest case of illegal sackings in Australian history. Last October, Justice Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120million to the ground staff as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering since their jobs were outsourced during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Transport Workers Union is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121million and order that the money be paid to the union. Noel Hutley SC, for the union, told Justice Lee that he should reject Qantas' submission that after four-and-a-half years of litigation, it was now contrite. 'Your Honour will not brush aside, as Qantas urges in its submissions, its vehement and regular denials of wrongdoing (and) its rejection of Your Honour's findings, which persisted all the way to the High Court,' he said. 'These reveal an attitude of adamantine self-righteousness.' Since the High Court ruled against Qantas' appeal no senior executive of the airline had publicly accepted it broke the law or Justice Lee's conclusions until Monday, Mr Hutley said. 'The contrition rings wholly hollow.' There had been 'a profound failure' within Qantas 'to come to terms with what needs to occur to avoid these things happening again', he said. The court should order that the penalty be paid to the TWU, which had taken on enormous risks and burdens to fight the sackings, Mr Hutley said. 'If the penalty is paid to my client, my client is an organisation charged with advancing the interests of its members... and the money would be applied to the proper purposes of the organisation.' On Monday, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Justice Lee that 'hopefully you'll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry'. 'We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that,' she said. Outside court, former Qantas worker Damien Pollard said union members were looking forward to the conclusion of the case 'to allow us to get on with our lives'. 'It's been a long fight, it's been very stressful for a lot of employees, so we are looking forward to the end,' he said.
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Eye-watering sum Qantas saved after sackings
Qantas saved $100m a year during the Covid-19 pandemic when it illegally outsourced more than 1800 ground workers, a court has been told. The High Court unanimously rejected a Qantas appeal after the Federal Court found that the airline had illegally sacked staff. A hearing in the Federal Court in Sydney continued on Tuesday to decide the penalty Qantas must pay for the 2020 decision during the Covid pandemic. Lawyers for the Transport Workers Union said on Tuesday that Qantas was faced with a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' during the pandemic to save more than $100m per year. Noel Hutley SC said the airline had the 'temptation of the potential to produce a massive profit'. TWU lawyers including Noel Hutley (left) said Qantas's decision to illegally sack more than 1800 workers had caused 'massive harm'. NewsWire / Nikki Short Credit: News Corp Australia Qantas had caused 'massive harm' with the aim of achieving economic benefit, Mr Hutley said. 'We say the principal concern of the court is specific and general deterrence,' he said. Qantas people manager Catherine Walsh was questioned about the sackings as well as ongoing issues with the airline's culture when she took the stand on Monday. However, Mr Hutley on Tuesday criticised the airline's decision to call Ms Walsh to the stand given she only joined the company in 2024 and had 'nothing to do with the events'. Justice Michael Lee agreed and said if Qantas was 'truly contrite' it would 'put someone in the witness box who was there at the time these decisions were made and could help explain' and could speak to how the airline had 'changed its tune'. Qantas was set to save millions each year after illegally sacking workers, a court has been told. NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui Credit: News Corp Australia In his submissions on Tuesday, Mr Hutley said Qantas had acted with 'arrogance and a dismissive and self-justified attitude towards these events' that it was 'dragging out'. Earlier, Ms Walsh took the stand and said the years-long process of appeals before the court had been a 'very lengthy and no doubt tiring processes for many people' and she accepted that Qantas was 'in the wrong'. 'I want to reinforce that we are deeply sorry, and we apologise for the impact on the workers, the TWU (Transport Workers Union), to the court for their time and to the family and friends that felt the impacts, we are deeply sorry,' she said. The maximum penalty Qantas can be ordered to pay is $121m, on top of the $120m compensation fund that is now in the process of being administered to workers. The Federal Court earlier found that Qantas had acted against protections in the Fair Work Act in its outsourcing and was partly motivated by a desire to prevent industrial action. The airline appealed the decision to the full bench of the Federal Court and later the High Court, both of which were unsuccessful. After losing the appeal, the union and Qantas went to mediation to determine how much Qantas would have to pay the outsourced workers for economic losses linked to lost wages. The hearing before Justice Michael Lee continues.
The Age
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Qantas accused of taking advantage of ‘tragedy for the nation'
Qantas took advantage of a 'tragedy for the nation' when it illegally outsourced the roles of 1800 workers, counsel for the Transport Workers' Union, Noel Hutley SC, has told the Federal Court. 'That's what motivated them. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which as Qantas conceived of it, would return them to the order of $100 million per year. And that was not $100 million per year on a one-off basis,' Hutley said. A Federal Court hearing to determine Qantas' penalty for illegally terminating workers' contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic continued on Tuesday. The TWU is asking the court to award the maximum penalty of $121 million. The Federal Court previously found the company had illegally dismissed workers and prevented them from taking industrial action against the company. Qantas' appeal to the Full Court was dismissed, and that determination was upheld by the High Court. Late last year, Qantas agreed to compensate a total of $120 million to the 1820 affected ground staff whose contracts were terminated. Loading The first day of hearings on Monday involved the cross-examination of Qantas' chief people officer, Catherine Walsh, who began the role in February 2024. She told the court that the airline's agreement to pay compensation was evidence that the company was 'very sorry'. On Tuesday morning, Lee suggested that if Qantas was truly remorseful, it would have picked a witness who was 'there at the relevant time'. Instead, Lee suggested that 'a deliberate forensic decision' was made for chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson not to be cross-examined, despite Lee having given Qantas 'every opportunity' to call Hudson or someone else who was there in 2020. On Monday, Lee told the court that a 'message must be sent to the broader corporate community that you can't play the court for a fool and try to fashion your evidence in a careful way in order to try to dissemble what went on'.
Sydney Morning Herald
20-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Qantas accused of taking advantage of ‘tragedy for the nation'
Qantas took advantage of a 'tragedy for the nation' when it illegally outsourced the roles of 1800 workers, counsel for the Transport Workers' Union, Noel Hutley SC, has told the Federal Court. 'That's what motivated them. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which as Qantas conceived of it, would return them to the order of $100 million per year. And that was not $100 million per year on a one-off basis,' Hutley said. A Federal Court hearing to determine Qantas' penalty for illegally terminating workers' contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic continued on Tuesday. The TWU is asking the court to award the maximum penalty of $121 million. The Federal Court previously found the company had illegally dismissed workers and prevented them from taking industrial action against the company. Qantas' appeal to the Full Court was dismissed, and that determination was upheld by the High Court. Late last year, Qantas agreed to compensate a total of $120 million to the 1820 affected ground staff whose contracts were terminated. Loading The first day of hearings on Monday involved the cross-examination of Qantas' chief people officer, Catherine Walsh, who began the role in February 2024. She told the court that the airline's agreement to pay compensation was evidence that the company was 'very sorry'. On Tuesday morning, Lee suggested that if Qantas was truly remorseful, it would have picked a witness who was 'there at the relevant time'. Instead, Lee suggested that 'a deliberate forensic decision' was made for chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson not to be cross-examined, despite Lee having given Qantas 'every opportunity' to call Hudson or someone else who was there in 2020. On Monday, Lee told the court that a 'message must be sent to the broader corporate community that you can't play the court for a fool and try to fashion your evidence in a careful way in order to try to dissemble what went on'.
