ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00002396

Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 07/02/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Location of Hearing: Ashdown Park Hotel

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2014 and/or Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 - 2015, and/or Section 9 of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Acts, 1984 - 2012, and/or Part VII of the Pensions Acts 1990 - 2015 and/or Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998 - 2015, and/or Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 2000, and/or Section 13 of the Industrial Relations Acts 1946 - 2015] following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Background:

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The co-pilot left a pair of designer sunglasses on a Ryanair flight that landed in Gran Canaria on 27 July 2015. The first officer found them and left then in the crew-room, (a room designated for crew operating on Ryanair aircraft) at the airport. He advised the co-pilot of this.

On 29 July the glasses went missing from the crew- room. Cabin crew, pilots (operating on Ryanair aircraft)) and cleaners are the only personnel that have access to this room. A request for information on the glasses was posted on a Facebook account created for the crew. When no information was forthcoming the co-pilot requested that the CCTV be reviewed. This resulted in the Claimant being identified as the person who took the glasses.

Following an investigation conducted by the Claimant, the Claimant admitted he took the glasses, which did not belong to him, as he believed they belonged to ‘A’ who worked at the airport. ‘A’ told him that he had left a pair of sunglasses on a flight on or around 7 July. He took the glasses to ‘return’ them to ‘A’ and he handed them to a person he knew as ‘E’ to pass on to ‘A’. He claimed that there was a misunderstanding and he would get the glasses from ‘A’ and return them. He did so and left a note for the co-pilot.

During the course of the investigation the Claimant was unable to provide ‘A’ or ‘E’ full name or contact details as he claimed they no longer worked at the airport. However following the meeting of 21 August he was able to contact ‘A’ to return the glasses.

The Claimant attended a disciplinary meeting on 5 and 20 October. The employee’s handbook clearly states;

Theft from another employee , from the company or passengers regardless of value, is a fundamental breach of trust and will result in dismissal

The Claimant’s actions on 29 July caused grave concern to the Respondent regarding the Claimant’s reliability, trustworthiness and ability to exercise good judgement. As a result his employment was terminated

Summary of Claimant’s Case:

 Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

Section 8 of the Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 – 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.

Dated:   19 May 2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney