Qantas concerned by order to reinstate safety instructor fired for allegedly staring at colleague’s chest

Qantas says it is concerned about the message sent by the Fair Work Commission after it ordered the airline to reinstate a male safety instructor who it fired for allegedly staring at a female colleague’s chest for 10 seconds. The commission’s ruling related to an aviation safety training session run for six Qantas employees in January 2021, where the instructor demonstrated how to observe a person’s breathing patterns to determine whether they required medical attention. The male safety instructor was said to have been explaining relevant first aid scenarios to the participants when he allegedly stopped in front of a female employee who was sitting about 1.5 metres away and stared into her eyes for about 10 seconds. It was then alleged that he moved his gaze towards her chest, where his eyes remained focused for about 10-20 seconds. He is alleged to have remained silent. The female complainant said: “It felt like a lifetime. This made me feel uncomfortable and it felt awkward. There was absolute silence in the class.” She claimed that shortly after this, the instructor said “you may have noticed that I was deliberately staring at [the female employee’s] chest to see if she was breathing”. The instructor denied using those words. Story has more details.<br/>