A senior member of cabin crew dismissed for misconduct by Ryanair will find out within six weeks if her appeal on the grounds of an unfair dismissal was successful.
Vanessa Redmond was dismissed following a complaint by a passenger that she blocked off the front row of passenger seats, sat in the row herself, read a book and fell asleep or appeared to be asleep on a flight from Dublin to Durham, England in May 2005. Ms Redmond denies having fallen asleep or neglecting to perform security checks.
In his closing submission to the Employment Appeals Tribunal yesterday, Killian O'Reilly, representing Ryanair, said Ms Redmond's actions on the flight had broken the "bond of trust" with her employer and her subsequent conduct had left Ryanair with no option but to dismiss her.
Mr O'Reilly said Ms Redmond had acknowledged she had broken procedure by first blocking off and then sitting in the front row. He said two witnesses with "no agenda", a junior member of the cabin crew and Matt Sheppard, the passenger who complained about Ms Redmond's behaviour, testified that she had also read a book and appeared to fall asleep.
Mr O'Reilly said that, "in hindsight", Ryanair's investigation into the incident and disciplinary procedures could have been better but maintained that Ms Redmond had never provided a "credible explanation" for what happened. He said she had been "evasive, unhelpful and inconsistent" throughout the process.
Dermot O'Loughlin, representing Ms Redmond, said there was not "one scintilla of evidence" that Ms Redmond had fallen asleep on the flight, after both of Ryanair's key witnesses could not confirm under cross-examination that she had been asleep.
Mr O'Loughlin said three experienced senior cabin crew members, including one former employee of the year, had said that blocking the first row was "no big deal" and that giving security codes to junior members of the cabin crew was normal practice. He said Ryanair's investigation process was highly flawed and that, while Ms Redmond was not seeking reinstatement, she was entitled to compensation.
Both parties agreed that in the event of the tribunal finding in favour of the claimant, she could receive up to 11 weeks of pay at €570 a week in compensation for the period from when she was sacked until she found a new job.