Qantas Flight Attendant Loses Unfair Dismissal Case

A flight attendant who was fired for drinking a quarter-bottle of vodka during a flight has lost her appeal.

The unidentified woman, a flight attendant for Qantas, was caught drinking from a one-liter bottle of vodka mixed with soda water during a flight from Sydney, Australia, to Johannesburg, South Africa in July of 2018.

The woman consumed the alcohol quickly while alone in the front galley, and it was enough to affect her work. She was relieved from her duties before the flight even landed and was subjected to a blood-alcohol test upon arriving in South Africa.

The one-liter bottle of vodka she drank from belonged to the airline; her consumption of it was considered theft.

The flight attendant was fired in October of 2018 and filed a claim of unfair dismissal.

However, the Australian Fair Work Commission this week dismissed her case, citing the fact that she needed to be removed from her duties while employed in a ‘safety critical role.’

The woman argued that her conduct on the one flight should not overshadow her 31 years as a flight attendant, but Deputy President Geoffrey Bull, who ran the hearing, did not agree.

Ironically, this is not the first time this has happened with a Qantas employee. In 2017, flight attendant Luke Urso was intoxicated after he admitted to drinking two peach martinis and three gin-and-tonics during a layover in New York City at a rooftop bar.

Urso was unable to work the flight, and Qantas paid his $20,000 hospital bill.

The airline fired Urso, and his appeal was also dismissed by the Australian Fair Work Commission.

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