Crime & Justice

Qantas fined $160,000 for firing employee who raised Covid-19 concerns

Sydney, Australia, Mar 6 (EFE).- An Australian court on Wednesday fined flag carrier Qantas of more than $160,000 for firing an employee who instructed staff not to clean a plane coming from China at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to health and safety concerns.

The fine of AUD250,000 ($162,800) imposed by Judge David Russell of the Sydney Tribunal is another blow to the damaged reputation of the airline, which is reeling from various labor problems and complaints affecting the company.

On Feb. 2, 2020, Qantas temporarily suspended forklift operator Theo Seremetidis, who had been appointed as the airline’s Health and Safety representative, from his position for raising concerns regarding the safety of cleaning staff.

“The conduct against Mr Seremetidis was quite shameful. Even when he was stood down and under investigation, QGS attempted to manufacture additional reasons for its actions,” Judge Russell said in his ruling, published on the judicial website.

He said the airline also sought to promote its own commercial interests, at the expense not only of Seremetidis, but of workers who were denied his advice and counsel in relation to a vital health and safety issue.

The fine, which is half the maximum sentence for this charge, comes after the magistrate said in November in the process initiated by the New South Wales State Workplace Safety Agency that Qantas was guilty of discriminatory conduct, a new blow to Australia’s largest airline.

Last week Qantas had already agreed to compensate Seremedetis with AUD21,000 after he was temporarily removed from his duties but never returned to his position because he was one of the 1,700 workers illegally dismissed in 2020.

Other scandals facing Qantas are related to the allegedly misleading advertisement and sale in 2022 of thousands of tickets for more than 8,000 flights that had already been canceled.

This is in addition to the high ticket prices, the poor quality of customer services, the subcontracting of ground staff after the pandemic or the million-dollar bonuses to its executives. EFE

wat/lds

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