Ryanair say ruling on dismissed worker 'bizarre'
01.12.06
Ryanair has described as 'bizarre' an order by the Employment Appeals Tribunal that a 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 joined Ryanair in February 1999 and had reached the rank of senior cabin crew by the time of her dismissal in July 2005. On May 19th, 2005, she was the senior member of a three-person cabin crew on a flight from Dublin to Durham Tees Valley. The airline claims 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. Although she did admitt blocking off the seats, other Ryanair staff gave evidence that this was the norm.
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 has ordered Ryanair to re-hire Ms Redmond within the next five weeks, even though both sides had argued that financial compensation would be the appropriate remedy in the case.
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