Ryanair action against departing COO Peter Bellew due to be heard next week
Ryanair's action against its Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew is due to be heard by the High Court next week.
The action centres on Mr Bellew's decision earlier this year to leave the company in December and join rival airline Easyjet as its chief operating officer.
It is alleged by Ryanair, represented by Ross Aylward Bl, that Mr Bellew has a clause in his contract that prevents him from working for a rival for a period of 12 months post the end of his employment with the Irish low-cost airline.
Ryanair's claims are denied by Mr Bellew, who has held a number of senior roles in the aviation industry having previosuly been Malaysian Airline's Chief Executive, and Ryanair's Director of Flight Operations.
The case was initiated last August. Lawyers for both parties have agreed to an expedited hearing of the action.
The matter was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds on Thursday. Ryan had brought a pretrial motion seeking answers to certain questions, known as interrogatories from Mr Bellew.
John Rogers SC, instructed by solicitor Donal Spring for Mr Bellew opposed that application, which counsel said was "oppressive," and should not be entertained by the court.
The Judge, noting that the trial is listed for hearing next week, said the court was not in a position to hear Ryanair's application and adjourned the motion.
The Judge then directed that the motion be heard alongside the hearing of the action which is expected to last for several days.
