A female flight attendant has lost her case for constructive dismissal against Ryanair at the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT).

In December 2009 the employee approached some celebrity passengers on board a flight (reputedly John and Edward Grimes a.k.a. Jedward) seeking their autographs, but in violation of the Ryanair company manual. 

 

The employee was reprimanded by her supervisor.

 

However, two years later, the same celebrity passengers were on board a flight when other members of the flight crew approached them and had photographs taken with them. On this occasion, no action was taken against these crew members.

 

The disgruntled flight attendant wrote a letter of complaint to management regarding the differing treatment she had received. This was one of several complaints raised by her, to include a complaint concerning the manner in which she was spoken to by a captain during a flight, complaints surrounding her transfer from flying duties to office-based duties during her pregnancy and complaints regarding her lack of promotion. 

 

She claimed that she had not been promoted because of the incident with the celebrity passengers (amongst other matters). 

 

However, Ryanair management denied this. Upon tendering her resignation in September 2012, the employee claimed that her grounds for doing so were "discrimination, harassment and bullying in the workplace".

 

Having examined the evidence in the case, the EAT found that the employee had "failed to fully engage with and exhaust the grievance procedure open to her". The EAT stated that when an employee resigns and asserts that his/her actions amount to constructive dismissal, the employee must act reasonably and this includes affording the employer "an adequate and reasonable opportunity to address and remedy any grievance". By resigning before the grievance procedure had been exhausted, the employee did not act reasonably and the EAT found in favour of Ryanair, in consequence.

 

This case highlights the necessity for disgruntled employees to abide by their employer’s grievance procedure and to exhaust all possibilities of appeal internally, prior to resigning from their position. Employers should ensure that they have a robust written grievance policy in place, so that there is a clear process to be followed if and when an employee wishes to raise a grievance.