A senior executive at Aer Lingus has denied giving false evidence to an employment tribunal and said he rejects the assertion made by a sacked pilot’s lawyer that he is a “barefaced liar”.
Adrian Dunne, chief operating officer at Aer Lingus, was under cross-examination for a second day at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Monday.
The tribunal is continuing hearings into complaints by former A320 captain Tom O’Riordan, who claims he was penalised for making protected disclosures in an “awareness campaign” about alleged “toxic fumes” aboard airliners.
O’Riordan maintains he was poisoned by a release of fumes while in command of an Airbus A320 jet on an empty ferry flight into Dublin Airport on 5th June 2023, and suffered brain damage as a result, ending his flying career.
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O’Riordan’s complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against Aer Lingus Ltd are all denied by the airline.
He was dismissed from the airline in September 2024 after the airline determined he had repeatedly breached its social media policy with a series of posts.
O’Riordan’s stance was that the airline had failed to address his concerns and he was engaged in an “awareness campaign about the issue of toxic fumes”.
The airline contends his social media activity did not amount to a protected act under the legislation.
Dunne told the WRC he heard O’Riordan’s appeal and found “no reason for changing the decision” of the disciplinary officer.
He said the words “protected disclosures” were “never mentioned” either in Mr O’Riordan’s grounds of appeal or at the appeal hearing itself.
O’Riordan’s barrister, David Byrnes, put it to Dunne that his client had read a prepared statement at the appeal hearing referring to a “concerted campaign to silence me on social media”.
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“This campaign of penalisation directly resulted from my having filed several protected disclosures,” Byrnes read from the statement.
“He’s made it very clear he made protected disclosures,” counsel told Dunne.
“Correct; he filed a safety report,” Dunne said.
The tribunal has heard O’Riordan took issue with his name being attached to an air safety report (ASR) submitted to the Irish Aviation Authority about the 5th June, 2023 incident two days after it happened.
O’Riordan wrote in a letter to Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton in the spring of 2024 that the report had been “falsified”, the WRC heard.
“My client never filed an ASR, you were always aware of that,” Byrnes told the witness.
“I’m aware of it,” Dunne said.
Byrnes put it to Dunne that at the appeal meeting, the fact his client had not made the air safety report on the incident was “framed” in a “negative way”.
Dunne said: “As the commander of the aircraft, he is required to ensure an ASR was filed. Does he have to physically ensure it was done himself, no, but he has to ensure it was done.”
Byrnes said Dunne, as the former accountable officer for safety regulations at Norwegian Air, was “aware of the just culture reporting obligations” set out in the European directive in the area.
“Just culture” is a term used in the 2014 European directive governing the reporting of safety-critical incident reporting in aviation. Byrnes told the tribunal previously that the objective of this was “the protection of aviation professionals” who might make safety reports.
“You’re giving that evidence knowing it’s false and untrue,” counsel told the witness.
“I’m not giving evidence that’s false,” Dunne said.
Byrnes said the European directive set out that reporting obligations fell to “the pilot in command, or in cases where the pilot in command is unable to report the occurrence, any other crew member next in the chain of command”.
“My client had zero responsibility for making an ASR in circumstances where he was lifted by ambulance and transported to Beaumont Hospital,” he added.
“I believe that’s exactly what I said,” Dunne said, adding that the duty fell to the captain or the next in the chain of command.
“You didn’t say that. There’s a mic in front of you. You are a barefaced liar,” Byrnes said.
Adjudication officer Aideen Collard intervened and said: “Listen, Mr Byrnes, that’s a matter for me.”
Tom Mallon, for the airline, said: “For a counsel to suggest to a witness that he is a barefaced liar is the most serious allegation that will be made and I will be very, very carefully listening to every piece of evidence that supports that and I will be making a very serious submission at the end.”
“Do you think calling a person a barefaced liar is going to further this case?” Collard said.
“I’m entitled to impugn this witness,” Byrnes said.
After further legal exchanges, Collard told Byrnes was to give Dunne an opportunity to respond.
“You’re a barefaced liar,” Byrnes said.
“No, I clearly reject the assertion, but let’s move on. I think the record will show exactly what I said,” Dunne said.
The case is due to continue later this month.
Byrnes is instructed by Setanta Solicitors in the matter; Mallon by Arthur Cox.
