Court allows case over forced gynecological exams at Qatar airport to go ahead against operator WPXI [Video]

MELBOURNE, Australia — (AP) — An Australian court has rejected a case brought by five women seeking compensation from Qatar Airways over invasive gynecological examinations conducted on passengers at Doha’s airport in 2020, but their case against the airport’s operator is going ahead.

The five, whose identities have been concealed by the courts, were among hundreds of women forcibly removed from airliners in Doha on Oct. 2, 2020, as officials searched for the mother of a newborn baby found dumped in a terminal trash can.

Thirteen women were removed from a flight to Sydney. Many said they were forced to undergo non-consensual gynecological or intimate physical examinations.

Federal Court Justice John Halley on Wednesday ruled the women’s argument against state-owned Qatar Airways did not meet international airline liability protocols.

“My conclusion that the exclusivity principle precludes the applicants from pursuing any claim for damages against Qatar Airways is a complete answer to the claims that the applicants seek to …