I hope Foley gets to keep his job: This from the Sunday Independent:
....
Aer Lingus sex row: Foley's £3m pay-off
Pilots and cabin crew supported chief executive, but were persuaded not to issue statement
AER LINGUS will be obliged to give its Chief Executive Michael Foley a £3m pay-off package or face prolonged and damaging litigation to remove him.
But even if he accepts this pay-off, there is a strong possibility that Mr Foley will insist on trying to clear his name in court by taking separate proceedings against the two women who accused him of sexual harassment.
It has also emerged that Aer Lingus pilots, cabin crew and middle management wanted to issue a statement in support of Mr Foley last week, but were dissuaded by union leaders who said it could have been interpreted as disrespectful to Judge Mella Carroll, who was dealing with the case in the High Court. Members of the Impact union spent several hours speaking in favour of a vote of confidence in Mr Foley.
Any settlement with Mr Foley, who was the former head of Heineken's entire US division, is likely to include his large legal fees as well as commensurate compensation.
"His main concern is to clear his name, and any settlement that does not include that will mean he could never work at that level again," said a source close to Mr Foley, who says his world has fallen apart since the claims by Siptu worker-director Joan Loughnane and personal assistant Ann Lawlor that they were victims of sexual harassment.
Mr Foley's contract calls for one year's notice but the likelihood that such a high-profile sacking would make him ineligible for similar work in future would be taken into account in finalising a departure package.
The settlement will also take into account the fact that Mr Foley was head-hunted from the US and encouraged to come home and take the top job in Aer Lingus. Sources close to Mr Foley said any settlement would also have to deal with his lost earnings over the 10 years left until his normal retirement date.
Yesterday, Mr Foley and his advisers were preparing a submission to the committee which will decide his future with the airline.
The board subcommittee, headed by chairman Paddy Wright, will decide Foley's future next Friday and it appears that they may try to terminate his contract, although that is by no means certain at this stage.
Mr Foley will have a week to make a written or oral submission to the committee which was set up to decide what action, if any, is to be taken against him after another committee upheld sexual harassment claims by two women.
The £300,000-a-year airline boss, who claims he was "framed", will argue that it is impossible for him to find a similar executive job following the decision of the board to uphold claims of sexual harassment by two female employees.
But he is also determined to clear his name and is planning to go back to court to seek a right to appeal both the finding that he harassed two female employees and whatever disciplinary action is taken against him.
He could also take court action against the two women who made allegations against him.
Speaking after Friday's High Court decision which dismissed his bid to block the disciplinary process, the suspended chief executive insisted: "I still contest my innocence strongly. I will make every effort that the truth will come out."
The High Court case heard Mr Foley make dramatic allegations in an affidavit when he was questioned in the airline over the complaints: "I did nothing wrong. Two people decided to frame me and then someone went public and f**ked me. Excuse my language. This is assassination. This is lethal. This is worse than a death."
Aer Lingus welcomed the High Court decision, saying it endorsed the process set in train by the board. However, the airline, which, it emerged last week, could eventually be sold to another airline, is unlikely to relish another lengthy court battle.
Senior board members, executives and union bosses believe that following last week's court revelations Mr Foley would find it impossible to manage the company with any degree of effectiveness. They will now want to restore company morale by moving quickly to appoint another chief executive.
The bitter inter-union dispute at the airline has also become a factor in the fall of Michael Foley.
Impact, which has been accused of "poaching" members from rival Siptu, almost issued a statment of support for the chief executive in the middle of last week's court case. Senior union officials only persuaded grassroots members from carrying through the vote by telling them that it could be interpreted as a mark of disrespect by Judge Mella Carroll who was in the middle of hearing injunction proceedings taken by Foley against the airline.
"There was very strong grassroots support in favour of issuing a statement of support," said one union official who attended the meeting at which the subject was discussed for several hours with union members lining up to speak in favour of the chief executive.
Impact represents pilots, cabin crew and middle-management employees at the State airline and has been involved in a bitter and prolonged dispute with rival union Siptu over "poaching" of employees, who left.
Union members are also satisfied that Michael Foley concluded a pay deal with them "over the head" of senior management at the airline, who did not want the deal which gave Impact members more favourable pay and conditions than their colleagues in Siptu.
"In general, Impact would be supportive of his agenda," said union official Michael Landers, who confirmed that officials had to persuade members not to pass the motion in support of Mr Foley.
"He put the growth of the business and enlargement of the fleet as his top priorities and we felt that was a very good thing," he said.