The High Court narrowed Ryanair Limited’s discovery request in its defamation and malicious falsehood proceedings against IMPACT, IALPA and airline pilot Evan Cullen. In a judgment delivered on 9 December 2014, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley ordered discovery in several categories, limited others and refused a number of requests. The ruling concerned discovery only; it did not decide the underlying claims.
Ryanair seeks damages, including aggravated or exemplary damages, over an RTÉ radio interview given by Cullen on 16 August 2012 and statements alleged to have appeared in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times on 23 September 2012. The dispute arose after three Ryanair aircraft made what the judgment describes as “low fuel emergency landings” at Valencia Airport on 26 July 2012, following diversions for bad weather and mayday calls. The case is expected to address Ryanair’s fuel and safety policies, including reserve fuel carried by its aircraft.
Ryanair alleges that Cullen’s statements conveyed, among other things, that pilots were pressured over fuel and that the airline used fuel league tables. The defendants pleaded that the broadcast was true in substance and represented Cullen’s honest opinion. They denied he was acting as a representative of the unions. They also pleaded that the Sunday Times article was based on the radio interview and that they had not supplied quotations or agreed to participate in the publication.
The court ordered discovery of fuel safety interviews given to journalists during the requested period. It also ordered discovery, within specified limits, of documents concerning Cullen’s own fuel emergency, pan-pan or mayday calls; complaints about Ryanair’s fuel or safety policy made to aviation-industry parties in the 12 months before the interview; and mayday calls by pilot members of the first and second defendants in the three years before it. The court also ordered discovery of documents about fuel usage from Ryanair pilots’ personnel files held by the defendants for the 12 months before the interview, and relevant professional diary entries within the defendants’ procurement.
Other categories ordered included Ryanair material issued to pilots about reasons for taking extra fuel, and documents relating to the three Valencia landings. Some categories were agreed, including documents concerning the plaintiff’s policy and corporate culture, pressure on its pilots, and Spanish consumer association accusations.
The judge refused requests for, among other things, documents about how Cullen learned of the three mayday calls; personalised fuel league tables and related letters; publicly available fuel regulations; and material about pilots at other airlines. She found discovery unnecessary where the relevant documents were already in Ryanair’s possession or where the request was too broad, and refused categories amounting to non-party discovery.