Two former Red Bull employees have alleged unfair dismissal after the company changed their terms of employment and told them they would have to re-apply for their jobs.
Ms Julie Hanna and Ms Amy Eastwood, who promoted the high-energy drink, were told in October 2002 that their job title was being changed from "samplers" to "energisers" and that they would be paid on an hourly rate.
They were also informed by their manager, Mr Adrian McGreevy, that they would be made redundant and would have to apply for the new posts, which would include new responsibilities. Ms Hanna (30), from Newtownards, Co Down, and Ms Eastwood (24), from Donaghadee, Co Down, left the company in January 2003 after declining to be interviewed for the jobs.
The tribunal heard that Ms Hanna had argued that they should have been given the new posts automatically for a trial period, while Ms Easton told Red Bull that she would not work for £90 less a month.
Giving evidence on the first day of the hearing, Mr McGreevy said that after reviewing the sampling programme, he decided it was inflexible and too costly. He decided it would be better if the employees were paid on an hourly basis rather than a fixed salary of £15,000 per year.
Mr McGreevy, who put the proposed changes to his five samplers at a staff meeting, said they were understandably shocked.
He said that three of the samplers had re-applied for their old jobs and were re-instated after receiving a redundancy package.
Ms Hanna and Ms Eastwood, who also received redundancy payments, chose not to apply. The two women claim that the new job was exactly the same as the former post and this was a device to pay them less money. Mr McGreevy told the tribunal the two jobs were very similar. The hearing continues.