Australia's Largest Airline Fined 81 Billion Won for Unlawfully Dismissing 1,800 Staff During Pandemic

Union Prevails After Five-Year Legal Battle
Over 1,800 Unlawful Dismissals During COVID-19 Pandemic

Qantas, Australia's largest airline, has been found guilty of unlawfully dismissing more than 1,800 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been hit with the largest fine in history for such an offense.

Qantas Airlines aircraft. Pixabay

According to a BBC report on August 18 (local time), the Federal Court of Australia ordered Qantas to pay a fine of 90 million Australian dollars (approximately 81 billion won). This is the largest amount ever imposed by a court in a case involving violations of Australia's industrial relations laws. In his ruling, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee stated, "I hope this sanction will serve as a 'genuine deterrent' to other companies," and explained, "It is intended to prevent large corporations from thinking it is acceptable to break the law if they believe the profits will outweigh the risks, even if they are caught."

Union Victory After Five-Year Legal Battle

Qantas immediately announced that it would accept the ruling. Vanessa Hudson, CEO of Qantas Group, said in a statement, "I sincerely apologize to the 1,820 ground staff and their families for the harm they have suffered," adding, "The outsourcing decision made five years ago during a time of uncertainty clearly caused significant pain."

Of the total fine, 50 million Australian dollars will be paid directly to the Transport Workers' Union, which filed the lawsuit. The union commented, "After a five-year battle of David and Goliath, justice has been served," and described it as "a meaningful moment for employees who have long loved the company."

Previously, in 2020, Qantas outsourced its ground operations workforce to cut costs after the airline industry virtually came to a halt due to COVID-19. However, the court found that there was an intention to restrict industrial action by unionized employees during this process. Qantas had already agreed last year to pay approximately 120 million Australian dollars (108 billion won) in compensation to the dismissed workers. With this latest fine added, the company now faces losses amounting to several hundred billion won.

Experts: "Sanctions May Not Be Sufficiently Effective"

However, experts point out that despite this ruling, the sanctions may not be sufficiently effective. They note that the cost savings Qantas achieved through outsourcing during the pandemic may have been greater than the penalties imposed. Dan Trindade, an employment law specialist at Clayton Utz, commented, "If the deterrent effect is seen as insufficient, the government could face pressure to increase the severity of penalties in the future."

Meanwhile, Qantas has also recently suffered a loss of trust following a series of scandals, including being fined 100 million Australian dollars last year for selling thousands of airline tickets for flights that had already been canceled.