Ryanair denies ‘ambush’ in unfair dismissal case

A FORMER Ryanair executive has denied that the airline “ambushed” an air hostess who was sacked for gross misconduct by not giving her prior notice of allegations made against her by other cabin crew.

Vanessa Redmond is claiming she was unfairly dismissed by Ryanair after complaints she failed to carry out security checks on a flight between Dublin and Durham on May 19, 2005, because she had fallen asleep.

Áine McKevitt, a former employee relations coordinator with Ryanair, told the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday that she first outlined three of seven allegations made against Ms Redmond to her at a disciplinary meeting held on June 8 last year.

Dermot O’Loughlin, a SIPTU official representing Ms Redmond, asked Ms McKevitt whether it was fair that his client hadn’t been made aware of these issues before the disciplinary hearing.

Ms McKevitt said she believed that Ryanair had carried out a fair investigation. She rejected claims that the lack of prior notice meant Ms Redmond was being “ambushed”.

However, tribunal chairman Eoin Martin said that Ms McKevitt might have overstated an allegation, by a passenger, who merely noted that the air hostess sat “as if to go asleep”.

Ms McKevitt acknowledged that it would have been preferable if Ms Redmond had been given a copy of the statement of the passenger’s complaint before the May 26 meeting.

Mr Martin also pointed out that the two cabin crew making complaints only agreed that Ms Redmond had sat down in the front row of the plane.

The hearing was adjourned until October 16.