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Flight attendant fired after falling down stairs
She fell down a flight of stairs at training while wearing her Emirates uniform heels, but in Dubai, Ciara Burke's injury didn't count as a workplace accident.
After months of hard work, she was scheduled to finish her final assessments at the Emirates training college in Dubai. Within days she expected to graduate as a fully-fledged flight attendant.
That didn't happen. Instead, the 23-year-old from Perth fell down a flight of stairs at the training facility in her uniform's red heels.
When the final day of her probation rolled around shortly afterwards, there was no job offer from the Middle Eastern carrier. Ms Burke says she was fired after taking time off to recover from the severe but temporary injuries to her back, leg and ankle.
"It just felt like I was watching someone else's life. At no point did I ever, ever think that this was going to happen to me," she tells Fairfax Media.
Her experience has sparked warnings to other Australians working in other countries to do their homework on their rights.
Before her fall, Ms Burke had spent almost six months working on flights to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The former nurse's "professionalism" and her "amazing communication skills" were highly praised by colleagues following an action-packed flight during which she gave injections to two separate travellers suffering medical emergencies.
But, after her fall, with her foot in a cast and then a moon boot, she couldn't work and instead spent her final days on probation in doctors' appointments.
Emirates initially supported her and told her to "take care of [her]self", paying for her Dubai medical costs.
Ms Burke claims she was then told to prepare herself for a 50/50 chance she would be fired after a panel met to decide her fate.
"At that stage I was just like a ball of tears. [An Emirates manager] said, 'It's policy that we give you a representative from HR and you're not allowed to be present during the meeting,' " she claims.
"I was like, 'Wow this isn't my fault! You know, I fell down the stairs at work during rostered hours in full uniform.' "
As her friends graduated on April 13, Ms Burke was told her contract had been terminated because she had taken too much approved leave and sick leave.
She had just seven days to pack up her life in Dubai, and her medical appointments were cut off.
"[The manager] said, 'I can tell you now that your accident has not been classified as an industrial injury.'Â
"No investigating body called me to ask exactly what happened," she claims.
In Dubai, where Emirates is based, unions are illegal and what is considered a workplace accident differs to that in Australia.
Betina Szkudlarek from University of Sydney Business School warns Australians planning to work overseas to research local industrial laws.
"When we talk about cultural differences, legally, there is a huge difference already between Australia and the US," she says.
"We shouldn't be surprised that there is such a huge gap between how legal rights and security are being interpreted and enacted in such different countries as Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
"It could [also]Â have been that we are dealing here with a really bad employer and we have some of those in Australia as well."
'See ya later'
Emirates, the fourth largest airline in the world, says it does not discuss information relating to past or present employees.
"During the probationary period, there is a dedicated team who assess performance, provide support and guidance and give regular feedback," a spokesperson said.
"A panel then thoroughly reviews all aspects of a crew member's performance prior to any decision being made."
Two months after the accident, Ms Burke has moved back in with her parents in Perth and is being treated by doctors and physiotherapists.
Damage to nerves in her foot continues to restrict her movements and how long she can wear shoes.
"I was genuinely really good at that job," she says, pointing Fairfax Media towards a dossier of glowing feedback from peers and senior supervisors.
"People are giving up their lives, I gave up my life. I did two degrees in nursing and I gave that all up.
"But if we don't uphold the image, see ya later."
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