ABC News Australia
Qantas has been found guilty of illegally standing down a worker who raised concerns about the COVID-19 risk to staff who were cleaning aircraft arriving from China in the early phases of the pandemic.
Key points:
- Qantas was accused of standing Theo Seremetidis down in early February 2020
- SafeWork NSW accused the company of discriminatory conduct
- The judge accepted that Qantas “actively sidelined” Mr Seremetidis
Theo Seremetidis worked for subsidiary Qantas Ground Services (QGS) at Sydney International Terminal as a lift truck driver in 2020 and was also an elected health and safety representative.
In a case before the NSW District Court brought by SafeWork NSW, the company was accused of standing him down in early February 2020 after he gave colleagues a direction to cease unsafe work in accordance with that function.
The case alleged this amounted to discriminatory conduct for a prohibited reason under Work Health and Safety legislation.
Judge David Russell concluded the offence had been established beyond reasonable doubt and found QGS was guilty.
