flyboy2
24th Dec 2010, 12:44
December 24 2010 at 11:34am
A Hong Kong court has overturned a ruling that ordered Cathay Pacific to pay 18 pilots about eight million US dollars for unfairly dismissing and defaming them, a report said Friday.
The city's Court of Appeal cut the amount of defamation damages for each pilot to 700,000 Hong Kong dollars (90,000 US dollars), down from a lower court's 3.3 million Hong Kong dollar award last year, radio RTHK reported.
The appeal court's ruling also overturned unfair dismissal claims for which the pilots were each awarded 150,000 Hong Kong dollars, the report said.
Cathay did not immediately comment on the ruling, while a spokesman for the former employees could not be reached.
It was unclear whether the group would fight the ruling at the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong's top adjudicator.
The group Ä among 49 pilots sacked by Cathay after talks broke down with management over their work conditions in 2001 Ä argued that they were dismissed after starting a campaign against certain employment rules.
The union members had been campaigning since the 1990s against what they alleged to be Cathay's practice of making pilots perform duties over and above their contractual obligations.
Pilots were often required to fly longer hours with shorter breaks between duties, they said.
But the appeal court ruled the group was properly dismissed and compensated with wages in lieu of notice to terminate their contracts, RTHK said.
The court also described the earlier defamation award as “excessive,” the report added.
Last November, Judge Anselmo Reyes ruled on the bitter decade-long court battle, saying the “predominant reason for the plaintiffs' termination by Cathay was their perceived participation in union activities.”
He ordered Cathay to pay all but one pilot 3.3 million Hong Kong dollars, saying Cathay's current chief executive Tony Tyler and then chief operating officer Philip Chen made defamatory and career-damaging statements about them.
The other pilot died in 2002.
When Tyler announced the pilots' dismissal in 2001, he suggested they were unprofessional, had poor employment records and did not care about the interests of the airline, Judge Reyes said. - Sapa-AFP
Source:
Cathay in court battle with 18 pilots - International - IOL | Breaking News | South Africa News | World News | Sport | Business | Entertainment | IOL.co.za (http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/cathay-in-court-battle-with-18-pilots-1.1004964)
A Hong Kong court has overturned a ruling that ordered Cathay Pacific to pay 18 pilots about eight million US dollars for unfairly dismissing and defaming them, a report said Friday.
The city's Court of Appeal cut the amount of defamation damages for each pilot to 700,000 Hong Kong dollars (90,000 US dollars), down from a lower court's 3.3 million Hong Kong dollar award last year, radio RTHK reported.
The appeal court's ruling also overturned unfair dismissal claims for which the pilots were each awarded 150,000 Hong Kong dollars, the report said.
Cathay did not immediately comment on the ruling, while a spokesman for the former employees could not be reached.
It was unclear whether the group would fight the ruling at the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong's top adjudicator.
The group Ä among 49 pilots sacked by Cathay after talks broke down with management over their work conditions in 2001 Ä argued that they were dismissed after starting a campaign against certain employment rules.
The union members had been campaigning since the 1990s against what they alleged to be Cathay's practice of making pilots perform duties over and above their contractual obligations.
Pilots were often required to fly longer hours with shorter breaks between duties, they said.
But the appeal court ruled the group was properly dismissed and compensated with wages in lieu of notice to terminate their contracts, RTHK said.
The court also described the earlier defamation award as “excessive,” the report added.
Last November, Judge Anselmo Reyes ruled on the bitter decade-long court battle, saying the “predominant reason for the plaintiffs' termination by Cathay was their perceived participation in union activities.”
He ordered Cathay to pay all but one pilot 3.3 million Hong Kong dollars, saying Cathay's current chief executive Tony Tyler and then chief operating officer Philip Chen made defamatory and career-damaging statements about them.
The other pilot died in 2002.
When Tyler announced the pilots' dismissal in 2001, he suggested they were unprofessional, had poor employment records and did not care about the interests of the airline, Judge Reyes said. - Sapa-AFP
Source:
Cathay in court battle with 18 pilots - International - IOL | Breaking News | South Africa News | World News | Sport | Business | Entertainment | IOL.co.za (http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/cathay-in-court-battle-with-18-pilots-1.1004964)