{"id":42656,"date":"2025-08-18T11:35:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/18\/qantas-hit-with-record-58-million-fine-over-illegal-staff-sackings\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T11:35:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T11:35:04","slug":"qantas-hit-with-record-58-million-fine-over-illegal-staff-sackings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/18\/qantas-hit-with-record-58-million-fine-over-illegal-staff-sackings\/","title":{"rendered":"Qantas hit with record $58 million fine over illegal staff sackings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Australia\u2019s largest airline, Qantas Airways, was ordered by a federal court on Monday to pay a record fine of A$90 million ($58.6 million) for unlawfully dismissing 1,800 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, marking the biggest penalty in the history of the nation\u2019s labour laws.<\/p>\n

The ruling by Justice Michael Lee caps a lengthy legal battle that has spanned years and reached the High Court, with the judge describing Qantas\u2019 actions as the \u201clargest and most significant contravention\u201d of the Fair Work Act to date.<\/p>\n

“The sheer scope and size, perceived financial benefits, and consequences of the contravention require a minimum penalty” of 90 million Australian dollars, equivalent to US$58.6 million, Justice Lee concluded. <\/p>\n

“Any less would not achieve the necessary specific and general deterrence.”<\/p>\n

The airline’s share price was down by 0.52% on Monday. <\/p>\n

Judge condemns Qantas\u2019 conduct and lack of remorse<\/h2>\n

In his judgment, Justice Lee said the penalty, set at roughly 75% of the maximum, was designed to ensure Qantas could not treat breaches of labour laws as a mere cost of doing business. <\/p>\n

He was scathing of the airline\u2019s approach to litigation and its failure to display genuine contrition for the harm caused to its workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cI accept Qantas is sorry, but I am unconvinced that this measure of regret is not, at least in significant measure \u2026 the wrong kind of sorry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lee pointed to the airline\u2019s immediate announcement of an appeal following the 2021 court ruling, issued without proper reflection on the detailed judgment. <\/p>\n

He also criticised Qantas for attempting to manage public opinion through press statements while avoiding having its executives, including current chief executive Vanessa Hudson, testify under oath.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one thing for the \u2018Qantas News Room\u2019 to issue press releases by a CEO saying sorry; it is quite another for written assertions of contrition, recognition of wrong and cultural change to be tested in a courtroom,\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n

Union celebrates landmark victory<\/h2>\n

Half of the penalty, A$50 million, will be paid directly to the Transport Workers\u2019 Union (TWU), which brought the case on behalf of the ground staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst all the odds, we took on a behemoth \u2026 that had shown itself to be ruthless, and we won,\u201d TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said after the ruling.<\/p>\n

Legal representatives for the TWU welcomed the judgment as a powerful warning to employers. <\/p>\n

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who worked on the case, described the fine as \u201crecord-breaking\u201d and reflective of the \u201cmonumental scale of Qantas\u2019 wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour law experts also emphasised the significance of the decision. <\/p>\n

Professor Shae McCrystal of the University of Sydney said it signalled a shift in the way courts and unions may respond to unlawful employer actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cAdverse action cases are risky \u2026 it signals a message to employers that if they break the law, then trade unions may receive those penalties in order to assist them in enforcing the act,\u201d she said in a Reuters report. <\/p>\n

Compensation already agreed with sacked workers<\/h2>\n

The penalty comes on top of an earlier A$120 million settlement reached in December between Qantas and the sacked workers. <\/p>\n

That agreement followed a test case ruling which confirmed the company had acted unlawfully in outsourcing 1,820 ground handling roles at the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Qantas initially argued that the outsourcing was a commercial decision driven by financial pressures, as travel bans and border closures hammered the aviation industry. <\/p>\n

However, the Federal Court in 2021 ruled the move was designed to prevent employees from exercising workplace rights and unionising.<\/p>\n

Qantas has since apologised and said it will pay the fine as ordered. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families,\u201d Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Qantas’ battered corporate reputation<\/h2>\n

The fine adds to a series of blows to Qantas\u2019 public standing, which has suffered badly since the pandemic. <\/p>\n

Once one of Australia\u2019s most trusted brands, the airline has been mired in controversies over labour disputes, customer service complaints, and regulatory action.<\/p>\n

In late 2023, it was embroiled in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission\u2019s lawsuit over so-called \u201cghost flights\u201d and saw the departure of long-time chief executive Alan Joyce. <\/p>\n

The fallout contributed to Qantas being ranked the fifth most distrusted brand in Australia in June, according to Roy Morgan research, behind major supermarkets, Facebook\/Meta and telecommunications firm Optus.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s troubles were compounded last month when it confirmed one of the country\u2019s largest cyber breaches, with personal data of 5.7 million customers accessed by hackers. <\/p>\n

The breach included sensitive details such as addresses, phone numbers, and even meal preferences.<\/p>\n

Wider implications for corporate Australia<\/h2>\n

The record A$90 million fine, combined with the earlier compensation settlement, marks a significant financial and reputational cost for Qantas. <\/p>\n

Analysts say it may also reshape employer behaviour across Australia.<\/p>\n

Josh Bornstein, principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn, which represented TWU, said the scale of the fine underscored that even powerful companies could not disregard labour laws. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis record-breaking penalty reflects the monumental scale of Qantas\u2019 wrongdoing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For many Australians, the ruling provides a sense of accountability against a national carrier that has long played an outsized role in the country\u2019s economy and culture. <\/p>\n

But whether Qantas can restore its reputation in the eyes of workers, regulators and passengers remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

The post Qantas hit with record $58 million fine over illegal staff sackings<\/a> appeared first on Invezz<\/a><\/p>\n

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Australia\u2019s largest airline, Qantas Airways, was ordered by a federal court on Monday to pay a record fine of A$90 million ($58.6 million) for unlawfully dismissing 1,800 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, marking the biggest penalty in the history of the nation\u2019s labour laws. The ruling by Justice Michael Lee caps a lengthy legal <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quickassetsmarket.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}