Qantas told to pay $150,000 to three sacked workers in outsourcing case

SYDNEY - A court on Oct 21 ordered Australia's Qantas Airways to pay a combined A$170,000 (S$149,400) to three baggage handlers it unlawfully sacked in 2020, implying a big damages bill for a lawsuit involving about 1,700 former workers whose jobs were outsourced.

- REUTERS

Federal Court Judge Michael Lee said Qantas must pay each of the fired workers A$30,000, A$40,000 and A$100,000 respectively for non-economic loss to reflect the "harm sustained" when the airline laid off the trio and their colleagues to prevent industrial action.

The carrier must use those payouts as "test cases" as it negotiates with a union on a total damages bill for all of the former ground workers. Qantas had claimed the sackings were warranted as a cost-cutting measure during the Covid-19 pandemic and fought the industrial lawsuit all the way to the High Court.