Court overturns dismissals of 1.700 Qantas employees

The Australian airline Qantas is costing dearly a decision made by its boss Alan Joyce, who recently stumbled over a consumer protection scandal. The High Court of Australia has annulled the dismissals of over 1.700 ground staff. 

At the beginning of the corona pandemic, the company terminated many employees and at the same time promised that they would be rehired. In many cases, however, things worked differently for ground staff because external service providers were then commissioned. 

The court declared the procedure null and void. Although Qantas had economic reasons for this approach, labor law was ignored. Specifically, the holding of a strike and negotiations with the unions were sabotaged. All of this is now costing Qantas dearly because it not only has to rehire the 1.700 people affected, but also pays them back wages plus interest.