Australia’s largest airline Qantas Airways, has been ordered to pay A$90 million (approximately $58.64 million) for unlawful termination of employment of 1,800 ground staff and replacing them with contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Federal Court of Australia, presided over by Judge Michael Lee, imposed the penalty and emphasised the need for a significant deterrence against such breaches of workplace laws.

In imposing a penalty close to the maximum available for breaching Australia’s workplace laws, Federal Court of Australia Judge Michael Lee said it was to ensure it “could not be perceived as anything like the cost of doing business”.

“My present focus is on achieving real deterrence (including general deterrence to large public companies which might be tempted to ‘get away’ with contravening conduct because the rewards may outweigh the downside risk of effective remedial responses,” Lee said in a summary judgment.

He further stated that a total penalty of A$50 million will be directed to the Transport Workers’Union, which represented the dismissed employees.

This ruling follows previous agreement between Qantas and the Union for a A$120 million settlement for the affected workers.

Qantas shares were down 0.13% in early trade.