A federal court judge has rebuked Qantas for the “vast legal costs” expended to defend claims it illegally sacked almost 1,700 baggage handlers in 2020, as former workers move a step closer towards a compensation payout.
Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that three test cases should receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000. They suffered varying amounts of “non-economic loss”, the court ruled.
Lee ordered Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union into mediation using the test case amounts to inform a total payout, with the parties due to report back early next month.
He found that the workers would have been retrenched one year later in 2021 anyway due to the airline’s “laser-like” focus on cutting costs, limiting compensation to 12 months after the outsourcing decision.
The federal court found the move to be illegal because it acted against protections in the Fair Work Act and was in part driven by a desire to avoid industrial action.
Qantas unsuccessfully appealed against the decision to the full bench of the court and later the high court.
About 20 former Qantas workers attended the judgment in Sydney on Monday, where Lee noted the extreme cost of the proceedings and use of court resources. He singled out Qantas’s use of “five senior counsel”.
The union is also seeking penalties to be imposed on Qantas in addition to a compensation payout.
The TWU national secretary, Michael Kaine, said Qantas now needed to prove it has “turned over a new leaf”.
“After relentlessly prolonging this case and denying workers justice, Qantas must do everything in its power to ensure appropriate compensation to workers,” Kaine said.
“They should not have to suffer a day longer after the last four years of anguish.”
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Qantas was contacted for comment.
Compensation hearings leading up to the judgment focused on what would have occurred if the illegal outsourcing did not occur.
The court also heard that some of the workers had suffered significant psychological distress after losing their jobs and had to take medication to cope.
Australia’s biggest airline emerged from the pandemic disruptions to post record profits but its reputation was tarnished by a string of scandals that precipitated the early retirement of its chief executive Alan Joyce.
This month the federal court approved a regulator-imposed penalty on Qantas of $100m for selling thousands of tickets for already-cancelled flights.
– with AAP