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The Fair Work Commission has upheld findings that an employee accused of s-xually harassing a female worker was unfairly sacked and should be reinstated.

In January last year, the female worker claimed the Qantas aviation safety training instructor made eye contact with her for about 10 seconds before gazing at her chest for 10–20 seconds during his first-aid class.

An investigation found the employee's actions were unwelcome and constituted sexual harassment, and he was sacked. But in unfair dismissal proceedings before Commissioner Donna McKenna, he said he merely glanced at the complainant's chest when talking about conducting a breathing check, and met her eyes when discussing how to determine if a person was responsive.

The employee conceded he had chosen the complainant as a demonstration subject instead of asking for a volunteer and admitted that in hindsight, he should have asked for permission first...