A Melbourne flight attendant is embroiled in a workplace dispute that could lead to her employment being terminated after she was accused of 'gossiping' about colleagues and swearing in front of passengers.
Virgin Australia cabin manager Alissa Souza-Connell has been hit with a string of allegations, including accessing private information, making derogatory comments about colleagues and secretly recording a conversation.
The airline claims she made 'profane and derogatory statements in the presence of crew and guests', behaviour it says could breach its Code of Conduct, Workplace Behaviour Policy and her employment contract.
But Ms Souza-Connell, who has worked for the airline since 2021, denies the claims.
Virgin accused Ms Souza-Connell of telling one colleague about 'certain confidential matters' involving another staff member, showing a colleague images of another employee’s roster on her personal phone, and airing her frustrations about a co-worker.
She is also alleged to have failed to follow lawful and reasonable directions, including missing a scheduled phone meeting with Virgin’s Crew Culture leader.
She is also accused of openly discussing one of the allegations against her.
No findings have been made about the claims.
Cabin manager Alissa Souza-Connell, has been accused by Virgin of a raft of bad behaviours
Ms Souza-Connell has been with the airline with since August 2021
As the allegations mounted, the dispute escalated, with Ms Souza-Connell demanding access to witness statements and interview notes ahead of a looming disciplinary hearing with Virgin Australia.
Virgin argued it was not required to hand over the material, so Ms Souza-Connell took the matter to the Fair Work Commission.
The Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia, representing Ms Souza-Connell, said she could not properly respond to the allegations without seeing the evidence against her.
In a win for the cabin manager, Fair Work Commission Deputy President Amber Millhouse ruled last week that Virgin must provide the documents before the hearing proceeds.
At the heart of the dispute were procedural fairness clauses in Virgin’s 2023 Cabin Crew enterprise agreement.
Under the airline’s 2023 Cabin Crew agreement, employees facing disciplinary action must be given full details of the allegations in writing, along with any evidence. such as documents, records or footage, so they can properly respond.
Ms Souza-Connell argued she had not been given all the material relied on by the airline.
Millhouse agreed.
'The fact that Ms Souza-Connell has already provided an initial response is beside the point,' she said.
'These matters do not negate the production requirements arising from a plain reading of the Agreement.'
She also found it was 'not possible' to identify which documents Virgin Australia relied on to formulate the allegations.
Ms Souza-Connell remains employed with Virgin Australia as the dispute continues.
The Daily Mail has contacted the airline and the union for comment.