On the nail, Norman Stanley Fletcher, ... there are none so blind as those who will not see !
And Aldente, also bang on, what we are witnessing is a bald management scare tactic. I have seen exactly the same used in another major UK industry where morals and public interest issues have very little place.
Right down to public announcements that "So and so was sacked today for gross misconduct". That leaves the sheep nervous wondering what the hell happened and each with their own idea of how they should each reel in their own neck to make sure the same doesn't happen to them.
What we are continually witnessing in the UK at least is the wholesale abuse of the words of disciplinary procedures, and of phrases migrated from other legal scenarios e.g. gross negligence in Third Party Liability parlance migrated to gross misconduct in Employment Law scenarios. There never was a satisfactory definition of these phrases and whether or not they applied remained something to be discovered under serious litigation. We have "smart" company lawyers to thank for the fact that these are now the first words we find up front, and no longer those reluctantly concluded after lengthy investigation.
Most reasonable people would assume that an accusation of gross misconduct meant that you had done something hellish. The company management would respond "Yes indeed". But in fact all it now takes is a stated disagreement with a point well landed by the employee on an intransigent or even bullying manager, or the obscenity of a disgustingly mercenary Ryanair manager prepared to stick two fingers up an employee's backside in order to eject them from the premises over some sham issue (such as the reason here).
Misconduct is a word you rarely see thesedays without the gross prefix. It would be too benign for any management action worth reporting otherwise, wouldn't it? Company lawyers have hijacked the phrase "gross misconduct" as one of their main tools to leverage immediate dismissal with basically no questions asked other than "Did you do that?" - "Yes?" - "Well then you are found guilty of gross misconduct in the workplace and are therefore dismissed". They then leave it to the smashed down employee to dare to get up off the floor and litigate. In actual fact, as I said before, I reckon it would be dead easy for this captain to litigate and take Ryanair for a few hundred thou too, but will he? If the employee doesn't have the stomach for months of it (like most Ryanair employees) then, as Ryanair are surely betting, Ryanair will get away with it. No-one can do anything about this one except the captain himself. I feel for him.
So, if we aren't all going to become active union members (I am but you lot won't be, will you?) I guess we all just pity the guy, because I don't see any signs on PPRuNe, that indicate other than that any given group of today's airline pilots, much like any other generally well-paid group e.g. city traders, are a supremely selfish bunch with few of their peers' let alone the public's interests truly at heart.
If they start beating you remaining compliant ones with plastic tubes filled with concrete, will you do any different? I shan't hold my breath.