1 month ago
Former Qantas employees were prescribed medication to deal with depression and anxiety after being illegally sacked, a court has heard, as the airline faces a mammoth compensation bill over the saga.
Compensation hearings began on Monday to resolve the legal battle between the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and the airline over its pandemic-induced decision to outsource almost 1,700 ground handler jobs in late 2020 – a move the federal court found to be illegal as it acted against protections in the Fair Work Act and was in part driven by a desire to avoid industrial action.
Qantas appealed the decision to the full bench of the court and later the high court, both of which were unsuccessful, with the matter now returning to the federal court to determine compensation and penalties for the airline must pay.
The court heard on Monday some of the workers suffered significant psychological distress after losing their jobs and had to take medication to cope.
One worker was taking four Valiums a day, the court heard, while another was prescribed antidepressants.
A court previously found Qantas contravened the Fair Work Act by its decision to outsource the roles of almost 1700 ground staff at 10 Australian airports in late 2020.
The airline fought the case all the way to the high court, but lost its appeal in September.
Qantas previously claimed the outsourcing would save more than $100m a year to help cope with the impact of the pandemic on air travel.
The court will hear three test cases of retrenched workers to help determine an appropriate level of financial compensation.
Affidavits from the three former workers were the subject of legal arguments on Monday.
Barrister Mark Gibian SC said one of the workers felt his “depression” at having been retrenched affected relationships with his family.
“It’s relevant to his hurt and humiliation and distress,” Gibian said.
Another worker said she felt “stressed and anxious” at being forced to look for a new job and took Valium to deal with the anxiety.
“I often felt nauseated because of the anxiety and stopped eating as much,” the woman wrote in her affidavit.
Union lawyer Josh Bornstein said outside court the compensation should be “very, very substantial, running into the many millions of dollars”.
Qantas also faces the prospect of being issued multimillion-dollar penalties for breaching the law.
One of the sacked workers, Don Dixon, told media he was hopeful Qantas would do “the right thing” and compensate affected workers.
“Three years ago we got thrown out the door unlawfully,” he said.
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“We did absolutely nothing wrong, except turn up, do our job, go home and keep the travelling public safe.”
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said the level of compensation could total more than $100m, which would be paid to workers depending on their level of impact.
He said some workers had lost properties and had “family breakdowns” as a result of losing their jobs.
“These workers have been dragged to hell and back through two painful unsuccessful deals, through a failed mediation process,” he said.
Bornstein said one of the key issues was the assertion by Qantas it would still have been forced to let workers go during the pandemic if it had not outsourced their roles.
“We argue that the workers would have remained in employment for a significant period of time and as a result are entitled to a significant amount of compensation,” he said.
During Monday’s hearing, Justice Michael Lee blasted union lawyers for failing to bring another claim for compensation – for the loss of membership fees as the result of workers being let go – at the same time as the former employees’ case.
“Why have you sat on your backside and not brought an application for compensation?” he asked Gibian.
“Such a case could have been worked up, seems to me, in a matter of days or hours, not months and months.”
The court heard 716 of the dismissed workers were TWU members, however Justice Lee noted some would probably have found alternative work within the industry and retained their membership.
The judge said he had made efforts for the claim to be heard at the earliest possible time to allow workers to be paid any compensation quickly.
Qantas said it also wanted the former workers to receive “fair compensation as quickly as possible”.
“Qantas sincerely apologises and deeply regrets the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on these former employees,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
