Rockhampton Airport Cater Care Denies Firing Tahlia Brown – An airport catering company has vehemently denied claims it fired a mother for breaching security protocols when she rushed out of a terminal moments after receiving a call her baby was dead.
Tahlia Brown was not even an hour into her shift with catering company Cater Care at Rockhampton Airport on September 19 when she learnt her 17-month-old had been found unconscious in the family spa.
Rockhampton Airport Cater Care Denies Firing Tahlia Brown: After Her Baby Totty Drowned In SPA
Taidyn ‘Totty’ Murphy climbed into the spa bath at her home in Gracemere, in Queensland‘s Rockhampton region, and tragically drowned.
Her partner Cecil Murphy, brother and two other children were at home at the time when Ms Brown’s 12-year-old daughter discovered Totty and called her mum.
After losing her daughter, Ms Brown said she was informed she had lost her job because she had ‘breached security’ by running through the airport on the phone to her daughter.
However, Cater Care CEO Colin Redman told Daily Mail Australia the company had not terminated Ms Brown’s employment.
Mother Tahlia Brown claims she was sacked for breaching security when she rushed home after being told her young daughter had drowned (pictured Tahlia Brown with daughter Totty)
Cater Care’s CEO Colin Redman told Daily Mail Australia the company has not terminated Ms Brown’s employment but Ms Brown did not hold the required ASIC card
On September 19, Taidyn ‘Totty’ Murphy climbed into a spa bath at her home in Gracemere, Queensland and tragically drowned
Cater Care said Ms Brown was required to hold an Aviation Security Identification Card (ASIC) to work at the airport, which she has failed to acquire.
‘Tahlia was unsuccessful in her application for an ASIC in August 2022 but was given duties in unsecured areas at Rockhampton Airport while Cater Care looked for employment options in other areas,’ Mr Redman said.
‘We will continue to consider employment options for Tahlia outside of Rockhampton Airport.
‘Our people are at the centre of Cater Care’s values and we will continue to provide the best possible support for all our employees affected by this tragic accident.’
Mr Redman said management was aware of her circumstances and are ‘supporting her through this difficult time’.
‘I was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of Tahlia Brown’s young daughter and on behalf of Cater Care I extend my deepest sympathies to Tahlia and her family,’ he said.
‘Tahlia has been offered counselling support, through a Cater Care provider during this incredibly difficult time for her and her family.’
A spokesman for Rockhampton Regional Council – which owns the airport building – told Daily Mail Australia they had no involvement in any decision surrounding Ms Brown’s employment.
‘On behalf of Rockhampton Regional Council, I wish to extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the family for their heartbreaking loss,’ he said.
‘I can confirm that council and the airport was not part of any employment decision made by a private company in regards to their staff – it was a decision made by the business.
‘And again, I want to extend our heartfelt sorrow to the family for their loss.’
Tahlia Brown started her shift with catering company Cater Care at Rockhampton Airport (pictured) on September 19 when she learnt her 17-month-old had drowned
Speaking on the morning she received the call her daughter had died, Ms Brown told the Courier Mail it was a blur but remembered running through security on the phone begging anyone to give her a lift home, as Totty’s father had dropped her at work that morning.
‘I was crying and screaming and begging them to please take me home because my baby girl was dying,’ Ms Brown said.
The family attempted to revive Totty by giving her CPR before driving her to Gracemere Police Station where officers also attempted CPR.
She was then flown to Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane in an induced coma.
Totty died in hospital the following day in the arms of her mum.
That day, Ms Brown said she received a text message from her boss saying ‘my heart goes out to you’ before things turned sour.
Ms Brown claims she reached out to her employer three times – on September 23, October 5 and October 7 – to attempt to organise shifts to earn some money and to distract herself ‘from the heartbreak’.
In response, Ms Brown said she was told Cater Care would ‘have to get back’ to her.
On October 13, less than a month after losing her daughter, Ms Brown was told her position ‘wasn’t looking good’.
She then says she was advised that, although she still technically had a job with Cater Care, she should start looking elsewhere for work.
Ms Brown claims Cater Care offered her a reference but said because she ran through security with her phone in hand it was deemed a security breach.
The family attempted to revive Totty by starting CPR before driving her to Gracemere Police Station on September 19 where police also attempted CPR. She was then flown to The Children’s Hospital in Brisbane in an induced coma. She later died in hospital the following day at 6.43am
‘What did they expect me to do? My baby was dead,’ Ms Brown said.
‘I’m disgusted and saddened by it … I’d done what any mother would have done.
‘I would have run through hot coals and done anything to get there to her and be with her.’
Ms Brown said her daughter Totty has been cremated and her ashes have been placed inside teddy bears for her other kids as they ‘aren’t coping’.
She said the bears are called ‘Totty Teddies’.
You can donate to the GoFundMe to support the family here.
Ms Brown said Totty has been cremated and her ashes have been placed inside teddy bears for her other kids as they ‘aren’t coping’
