AU$90 million penalty: Qantas Airways fined for illegal sackings during Covid pandemic; judge questions lack of remorse

A judge in Australia fined Qantas Airways 90 million Australian dollars ($59 million) for unlawfully dismissing more than 1,800 ground staff during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The penalty is in addition to the AU$120 million ($78 million) compensation the airline had already agreed to pay dismissed employees.

Justice Michael Lee of the Australian Federal Court ruled that the dismissal of 1,820 baggage handlers and cleaners at airports in late 2020 was the most serious breach of Australian labour laws in their 120-year history, according to the Associated Press.