A flight attendant has been awarded €10,000 in compensation after she was sacked over an alleged breach of contract that an industrial tribunal ruled was only an excuse to terminateher employment.

Joanna Attard claimed she was unfairly dismissed from the aviation company she was working for, Carre Aviation Ltd, in December 2010.

The company complained she had gone abroad without informing it and without being on approved vacation leave.

Moreover, she could not be found at the company’s so-called home base in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq as stipulated in her work contract.

The contract states that employees could be called in to work even when off duty or on leave. She was obliged to inform her employer about every absence except for sickness or holidays.

The contract also lays down that she had to be reachable on modern means of communication.

The tribunal heard that Ms Attard left Malta on December 22, 2010, and went to the UK to see her grandmother who was seriously ill in intensive care. She had not informed her superiors of her departure because she was off duty between December 16 and 29.

Ms Attard explained that although she had been told that the company’s aircraft was going to be grounded for mandatory maintenance, she had spoken to another flight attendant who was prepared to fill in for her despite being pregnant.

Although she was declared to be fit and able to fly, the company management did not allow her to substitute Ms Attard, saying there was a “health hazard”.

The tribunal, chaired by Mary Gaerty, said it was convinced that the alleged health hazard was not the real reason the company did not allow her to fill in for Ms Attard.

The tribunal also noted that although Ms Attard had failed to inform her superiors of her departure, dismissal was an “excessive punishment” and should not be used unless there are serious circumstances to justify it.

It concluded that the company had been planning to dismiss Ms Attard and had used this failure to reach its aim.

Moreover, she had been dismissed without being given a chance to defend herself from any accusations. The company should have used other avenues had it wanted to enforce discipline.