{"id":445711,"date":"2026-05-12T22:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/445711\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:54:11","slug":"sacked-pilots-lawyer-calls-aer-lingus-executive-barefaced-liar-at-wrc-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/445711\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacked pilot\u2019s lawyer calls Aer Lingus executive \u2018barefaced liar\u2019 at WRC \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior executive at Aer Lingus<\/a> has denied giving false evidence to an employment tribunal and said he rejects the assertion made by a sacked pilot\u2019s lawyer that he is a \u201cbarefaced liar\u201d. <\/p>\n

Adrian Dunne, chief operating officer at Aer Lingus, was under cross-examination for a second day at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC)<\/a> on Monday. <\/p>\n

The tribunal is continuing hearings into complaints by former A320 captain Tom O\u2019Riordan, who claims he was penalised for making protected disclosures in an \u201cawareness campaign\u201d about alleged \u201ctoxic fumes\u201d aboard airliners. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Riordan 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. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Riordan\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Riordan\u2019s stance was that the airline had failed to address his concerns and he was engaged in an \u201cawareness campaign about the issue of toxic fumes\u201d. <\/p>\n

The airline contends his social media activity did not amount to a protected act under the legislation. <\/p>\n

Dunne told the WRC he heard O\u2019Riordan\u2019s appeal and found \u201cno reason for changing the decision\u201d of the disciplinary officer. <\/p>\n

He said the words \u201cprotected disclosures\u201d were \u201cnever mentioned\u201d either in Mr O\u2019Riordan\u2019s grounds of appeal or at the appeal hearing itself. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Riordan\u2019s barrister, David Byrnes, put it to Dunne that his client had read a prepared statement at the appeal hearing referring to a \u201cconcerted campaign to silence me on social media\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"\"PrepayPower are hiking their prices – will other energy suppliers soon follow suit?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis campaign of penalisation directly resulted from my having filed several protected disclosures,\u201d Byrnes read from the statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s made it very clear he made protected disclosures,\u201d counsel told Dunne. <\/p>\n

\u201cCorrect; he filed a safety report,\u201d Dunne said. <\/p>\n

The tribunal has heard O\u2019Riordan 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. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Riordan wrote in a letter to Aer Lingus chief executive Lynne Embleton in the spring of 2024 that the report had been \u201cfalsified\u201d, the WRC heard. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy client never filed an ASR, you were always aware of that,\u201d Byrnes told the witness. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m aware of it,\u201d Dunne said. <\/p>\n

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 \u201cframed\u201d in a \u201cnegative way\u201d. <\/p>\n

Dunne said: \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byrnes said Dunne, as the former accountable officer for safety regulations at Norwegian Air, was \u201caware of the just culture reporting obligations\u201d set out in the European directive in the area. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust culture\u201d 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 \u201cthe protection of aviation professionals\u201d who might make safety reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re giving that evidence knowing it\u2019s false and untrue,\u201d counsel told the witness. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not giving evidence that\u2019s false,\u201d Dunne said. <\/p>\n

Byrnes said the European directive set out that reporting obligations fell to \u201cthe 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\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy client had zero responsibility for making an ASR in circumstances where he was lifted by ambulance and transported to Beaumont Hospital,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that\u2019s exactly what I said,\u201d Dunne said, adding that the duty fell to the captain or the next in the chain of command.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t say that. There\u2019s a mic in front of you. You are a barefaced liar,\u201d Byrnes said. <\/p>\n

Adjudication officer Aideen Collard intervened and said: \u201cListen, Mr Byrnes, that\u2019s a matter for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tom Mallon, for the airline, said: \u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think calling a person a barefaced liar is going to further this case?\u201d Collard said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m entitled to impugn this witness,\u201d Byrnes said. <\/p>\n

After further legal exchanges, Collard told Byrnes was to give Dunne an opportunity to respond. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a barefaced liar,\u201d Byrnes said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I clearly reject the assertion, but let\u2019s move on. I think the record will show exactly what I said,\u201d Dunne said. <\/p>\n

The case is due to continue later this month. <\/p>\n

Byrnes is instructed by Setanta Solicitors in the matter; Mallon by Arthur Cox. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A senior executive at Aer Lingus has denied giving false evidence to an employment tribunal and said he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[601,72,61,60,1962,6465],"class_list":["post-445711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aer-lingus","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-work","tag-workplace-relations-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}