Long-Serving Qantas Employee Wins Back Job
Tuesday 18 March 2014 @ 10.02 a.m. | Industrial Law
A Qantas employee who had worked for the airline for nearly 25 years has won her job back, after the Fair Work Commission (FWC) deemed there was a lack of evidence to support her dismissal (Keiko Adachi v Qantas Airways Limited [2014] FWC 518) (10 February 2104).
Background
Qantas flight attendant Keiko Adachi had been dismissed for “serious misconduct” late in 2013, after the airline found she had attempted to fly without medical clearance and a physical altercation with a manager ensued. The dismissal is in breach of s 394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act).
However, Fair Work Commissioner Roberts (Commissioner) found there was no evidence to suggest Adachi had purposefully tried to deceive Qantas on the day of flight. Instead, she had been under the impression she was permitted to fly with the WorkCover certificate she had received.
In relation to the altercation which occurred after she was told not to fly, Roberts found a “very short tussle for possession” of the WorkCover certificate took place, but this was not grounds enough for her dismissal.
The Commissioner said:
“I further find that her actions were not grave enough to be considered serious misconduct and were a minor species of misconduct. Ms Adachi’s action in attempting to take the certificate back from [manager] Mr El Khoury would appear to be inconsistent with her character and work history at Qantas..Ms Adachi would not be the easiest person to deal with but she has no history of initiating any sort of physical altercation. On balance, I therefore find that the second allegation is not substantiated to the point where it could form part of a valid reason for termination of employment.”
Roberts found the Qantas cabin crew member which carried out the investigation into the incident dismissed Adachi without malice, but the process was “flawed and ultimately reached conclusions that were not available to him on the evidence”.
Despite the cabin crew manager receiving 12 statements from other cabin crew members working that day that they had witnessed nothing unusual, the manager took the word of the one witness.
The cabin crew manager said he was unable to believe the witness’s “narrative was anything but totally credible” because of the witness’s “high personal and professional regard” for Adachi. However, Roberts found that the witness’s account was tarnished due to his anger over Adachi being unable to work.
The Commissioner also said it was a mystery as to why the physical state of the WorkCover certificate and the 12 statements from cabin crew members did not spur a further investigation or for the cabin crew manager to seek advice from the Qantas HR team.
The Decision
The FWC ordered Qantas to reinstate the flight attendant. The Commissioner did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to support either of the claims raised by the airline that she attempted to fly without medical clearance and that she had a physical altercation with a manager.
He took into account the "obvious bad feelings" towards some Qantas managers that the employee might have, as well as the way in which she had used the WorkCover certificate. However the Commissioner felt that the employment relationship could be re-established with good will on both sides as well as a willingness by the employee to undergo training.
The Commissioner however discounted the employee’s compensation due to her spontaneous and inappropriate initiation of the "tug of war" with her manager. “I strongly recommend to Qantas that the actions of [the witness] be subject to investigation and appropriate action.”
This case underlines the importance of ensuring that investigators of alleged workplace incidents "should never be on such close terms with one of the parties".
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Sources:
Article by smartcompany.com.au
Article by National Retail Association
Keiko Adachi v Qantas Airways Limited [2014] FWC 518) (10 February 2014)
