The chief executive of Aer Lingus, Mr Michael Foley, last night rejected a report which returned "unfavourable" findings against him in relation to two allegations of sexual harassment.
The report by a sub-committee of the airline's board was submitted yesterday to its chairman, Mr Bernie Cahill. A statement issued on behalf of Mr Foley said the opinion of the sub-committee was "not favourable".
Mr Foley was head-hunted by the State-owned company last year and returned from the US, where he led the operations of the brewer Heineken.
Mr Cahill has referred the report to a separate sub-committee, which is empowered to act with the full authority of the airline's board to take such action as may be deemed appropriate.
A spokesman for Mr Foley said: "Michael Foley is determined to continue in his position. He is determined to clear his name."
The members of the investigating sub-committee were Dr John Keane and Ms Rose Hynes. They were appointed in February after a worker-director of Aer Lingus, Ms Joan Loughnane, alleged sexual harassment against Mr Foley. The sub-committee also investigated a separate allegation of sexual harassment last March by a member of the airline's head office staff.
Aer Lingus said the investigation had been conducted under its policy on "respect and dignity" in the workplace, which covered procedures for dealing with complaints of alleged sexual harassment.
