Qantas Airways Ordered to Pay Damages

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A court on Monday ordered Australia's Qantas Airways to pay a combined A$170,000 ($114,000) to three baggage handlers it unlawfully sacked in 2020, indicating significant damages for a lawsuit involving about 1,700 former workers whose jobs were outsourced.

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee stated that Qantas must compensate each of the dismissed workers A$30,000, A$40,000, and A$100,000 respectively for non-economic loss, reflecting the "harm sustained" when the airline laid them off to prevent industrial action.

The airline must use these payouts as "test cases" while negotiating with a union regarding the total damages for all former ground workers. Qantas had defended the sackings as a necessary cost-cutting measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging the industrial lawsuit up to the High Court.

Judge Lee acknowledged that if Qantas had not illegally outsourced its ground handling operations in 2020, it would have done so lawfully in 2021, potentially saving about A$100 million annually.

Although the ruling did not determine a final payout figure, it sets a precedent for Qantas's last major legal challenge as the airline works to recover from a period of reputational damage due to its actions during and after the pandemic restrictions from 2020 to 2022.

In May, the airline agreed to pay A$120 million to settle a regulator lawsuit accusing it of selling tickets for already cancelled flights shortly after Australia's international border reopened. It was also alleged that Qantas pressured the federal government to limit rival Qatar Airways from increasing flights to Australia.

"Qantas says it's turned over a new leaf," remarked Michael Kaine, national secretary of the Transport Workers Union, which brought forth the industrial dismissal case. "It's time to prove it. After relentlessly prolonging this case and denying workers justice, Qantas must do everything in its power to ensure appropriate compensation."

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson, who took on the role in November 2023, stated in a release that the company apologised to the affected workers and acknowledged that the responsibility lies with Qantas to learn from this situation.

Judge Lee instructed Qantas and the TWU to discuss compensation for all fired workers and scheduled a return to court on November 15.

> ($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars)