Qantas ‘biscuit-stealer’ gets job back
A Channel 9 report this morning says that a Qantas flight attendant sacked for stealing 16 macadamia nut chocolates and three biscuits has won his job back after a bizarre legal battle which involved quotes from the Lord of the Rings and comparisons to Mary Poppins.
Phillip Woodward-Brown had 32 years’ experience as a flight attendant when he was searched at Tokyo’s Narita airport as part of a “behavioural performance review” by the airline.
In addition to the chocolates and biscuits, security staff found one satchet of sugar, one coffee stirrer and two Qantas pens and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission found Mr Woodward-Brown regarded the products as “waste” which he knew “were to be thrown away immediately after the conclusion of the flight.”
Qantas had told the commission it took a strict line on theft and did not believe the explanation that Mr Woodward-Brown was unaware that what he was doing breached airline regulations.
When claimed that Mr Woodward-Brown was carrying all of the items in his jacket or trouser pockets, AIRC senior deputy president Lea Drake remarked that “his pockets seemed to have had the magical properties of a Mary Poppins’ carpet bag”.
Also referenced in the judgement was a quote from Tolkien’s The Hobbit, proposing that “But what has it got in its pocketses, eh?” — a line attributed to character Gollum — was the main question at hand.
Ms Drake said that although Mr Woodward-Brown had breached Qantas policy by his actions, she found the sacking was “disproportionate to the gravity of the misconduct”.
Evidence was given of Mr Woodward-Brown’s loyalty to Qantas, and the stress and embarrassment he suffered after his sacking, with the termination ruled harsh, unjust or unreasonable under the Workplace Relations Act.
She ordered Qantas to reinstate Mr Woodward-Brown and pay him for his accrued time between his termination last August and immediate re-hiring.
Qantas has declined to comment.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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