The lower-ranking Federal Court in 2021 found Qantas broke the law by outsourcing the ground handling jobs, but the airline appealed the ruling in the High Court which upheld the decision on Thursday. The matter now returns to the Federal Court which will decide penalties and compensation for affected employees. "These workers have been put through hell," said Michael Kaine, secretary of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) which brought the lawsuit. Qantas said in a statement that it accepted the High Court decision and noted the Federal Court had already ruled out forcing the company to reinstate the workers. It said it had already made an unspecified provision in its accounts for penalties and compensation for affected employees after the Federal Court decision.

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Persons: David Gray, Michael Kaine, Kaine, Byron Kaye, Roushni Nair, Subhranshu Sahu, Jamie Freed Organizations: Qantas Airways Airbus, Sydney Airport, REUTERS, Rights, Qantas Airways, Australia, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Federal, Transport Workers Union, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney, Bengaluru