Ryanair unhappy at 'bizarre' employment tribunal ruling
01.12.06
Ryanair has described as 'bizarre' an order by the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday that a former cabin crew member accused of falling asleep and breaching safety procedures during a flight to Durham Tees Velley Airport should be reinstated. The budget airline said it would examine the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.
Vanessa Redmond was the senior member of a three-person cabin crew on a flight from Dublin to Durham Tees Valley in May 2005. The airline claims that during the flight she blocked off the first row of passenger seats, sat in the row herself in breach of procedures, read a 'fiction-type' of book and fell asleep on the flight.
The airline also claims she failed to carry out security checks and delegated responsibility for vital security code to a junior crew member who started work with the airline only days before.
During the employment appeals tribunal, Ms Redmond strongly denied sleeping during the flight, but did admitt blocking off the seats, which other Ryanair staff told the tribunal is was the norm.
In reaching its decision, the tribunal found that Ryanair's disciplinary process had shortcomings and that Ms Redmond had been denied fair procedure and natural and constitutional justice. It ruled that she was unfairly dismissed. However, it described her breaches of procedures as serious matters warranting disciplinary sanction.
The tribunal ordered Ryanair to re-hire Ms Redmond within the next 5 weeks, even though both sides had argued that financial compensation would be the appropriate remedy in the case.
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