A supervisor at Jetstar has lost his case for unfair dismissal after failing to report an “excessively flatulent” subordinate.

According to the Fair Work Commission, the supervisor of the Qantas-owned budget airline’s licensed engineers was sacked for not reporting the subordinate's behaviour including  fondling his genitals and regularly passing wind loudly and publicly, and for making discriminatory comments. 

The supervisor had argued that his sacking was harsh and unjust because the subordinate who engaged in the inappropriate behaviour was not fired.

However, Fair Work Commissioner Phillip Ryan dismissed the supervisor’s claim, stating that the two matters were not comparable. 

Although the subordinate’s conduct constituted sexual harassment, the supervisor had failed in his higher duty to report it. 

Additionally, the supervisor had called his colleagues “dumb c--ts” and made discriminatory comments about Asians spreading COVID-19. 

Commissioner Ryan added that the supervisor's attempt to damage the subordinate’s credibility backfired as Jetstar started investigating him for not reporting or disciplining the subordinate for what it said was sexual harassment and breaches of its code of conduct.

The case was initiated when the subordinate alleged the supervisor had singled him out for errors during tool box meetings, while another engineer alleged the supervisor publicly mocked colleagues and created a “toxic atmosphere”. 

In response, the supervisor alleged that the subordinate had engaged in inappropriate behaviour, including displaying his penis through his trousers and excessive flatulence in the office.

Commissioner Ryan said the supervisor's argument for staying silent on the alleged sexual harassment was “simply unacceptable” as he had a duty to escalate significant breaches of the code of conduct. 

Failing to report the subordinate’s flatulence was also a breach of his duty to report concerns, the commissioner found, although not by itself a reason for dismissal.

The subordinate received a final warning and refresher training on conduct policy, while the supervisor was dismissed after 16 years’ service. 

Commissioner Ryan stated that the subordinate’s actions were “inexcusable” and “abhorrent” but the two cases were not comparable as the supervisor failed in his duty to report. 

Jetstar had considered the subordinate had cooperated with the investigation, taking responsibility for his conduct and was contrite, whereas the supervisor had taken “an obfuscatory approach to his responses”.

The commissioner also rejected the supervisor's defence that his alleged comment to a Chinese colleague that Asian residents of Fairfield were responsible for spreading COVID-19 as they pretended they could not speak English and did not follow health orders was “not actually racism, rather at its highest was a racially insensitive remark”. 

The commissioner said the comments were a breach of the code as they stereotyped Asians as people who were not able to speak English based on their race and, collectively with the other allegations, justified dismissal.