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Qantas found guilty of illegally standing down worker
November 17th 2023
An Australian court has pronounced Qantas guilty of illegally standing down a worker who expressed concerns about the cleaning of aircraft arriving from China in the early days of the pandemic. Read More » The case, heard before the District Court of NSW, concerned Theo Seremetidis, a lift truck driver with Qantas subsidiary, Qantas Ground Services (QGS), and an elected health and safety representative (HSR). Seremetidis was stood down after he instructed staff to stop unsafe work cleaning the aircraft. SafeWork NSW commenced legal action against QGS in 2021. On November 16, Judge David Russell found the company guilty of discriminatory conduct for a prohibited reason under Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation. “I find Mr Seremetidis was most conscientious in carrying out his role as a HSR,” Judge Russell said. “QGS engaged in discriminatory conduct within the meaning of S.105 of the WHS Act towards Mr Seremetidis.” Qantas is reviewing the decision.
