The Labour Court has rejected Dick Fagan’s appeal against his dismissal by Aer Lingus, finding that substantial grounds justified it. In a determination dated 22 October 2019, the Court affirmed the adjudication officer’s decision that Fagan was not unfairly dismissed.
Fagan, a cabin crew member, was stopped by customs officers at Dublin Airport on 25 June 2015 with 2,000 duty-free cigarettes. The stated limit for cabin crew was 40. He admitted exceeding the customs limit, selling tobacco on board contrary to company rules and not reporting the incident to Aer Lingus before the company contacted him.
Fagan argued that dismissal was disproportionate, customs breaches were tolerated and senior executives had influenced the decision. The Court found that Aer Lingus had generally begun disciplinary proceedings in comparable cases known to it. A pilot’s separate incident had been handled informally and was not brought to the company’s HR department. The Court also accepted that a crew notice made clear customs breaches could lead to dismissal, and that the disciplinary and appeal decision-makers had acted without outside influence. It found the employer’s procedures fair and the dismissal reasonable.