A hearing into the dismissal of a member of Ryanair's cabin crew who allegedly fell asleep on duty came to a halt yesterday after it emerged that the chief witness had emigrated to Australia.
Vanessa Redmond denies that she fell asleep on a flight from Dublin to Durham, England in May 2005 and has brought proceedings of unfair dismissal against Ryanair at the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Ms Redmond joined Ryanair in February 1999 and had reached the rank of senior cabin crew by the time of her dismissal in July 2005.
When the incident is alleged to have occurred, she was the senior member of a three-person cabin crew.
It is alleged she blocked off the first row of passenger seats, sat in the row herself in breach of procedures, read a book and fell asleep, or appeared to be asleep.
The chief witness, Matt Shepherd, a passenger on the flight and a partner of another Ryanair employee, made a complaint to the airline's management after the flight landed.
The complaint was followed up and Ms Redmond was dismissed.
Ryanair claimed she was guilty of gross misconduct and compromised passenger safety.
It also claimed she delegated crucial security procedures to a junior crew-member who only began working with the airline a few days previously.
Killian O'Reilly, representing Ryanair, told tribunal chairman Eoin Martin that Mr Shepherd had emigrated to Perth, Australia, but was willing to give evidence using video conferencing.
He ruled out suggestions by Mr Martin that the tribunal fly to Australia or meet halfway between the two countries in Dubai to take Mr Shepherd's evidence, saying that the costs to Ryanair would be prohibitive.
However, Dermot O'Loughlin, representing Ms Redmond, said he had grave concerns about the use of video link.
Mr Martin acknowledged that the technology did have its drawbacks and said that if the tribunal agreed to accept it, they would take that into consideration in their ruling.
He gave Mr O'Reilly until this afternoon to contact Mr Shepherd and assure the tribunal that he would give evidence by video link. He stipulated that if the video link was to go ahead, an Irish Embassy or consulate official, or an attorney approved by the embassy, would be required to identify Mr Shepherd.
Mr Martin also ruled that no evidence could be heard from other witnesses until it was clear whether or not Mr Shepherd would give evidence.
The tribunal will sit this afternoon and tomorrow and is expected to hear from other Ryanair employees before it breaks for the summer.
It is unlikely that evidence from Mr Shepherd will be taken before October.
