Judge who said ‘it kills me’ to fly Ryanair urged not to deal with any of airline’s cases

Ryanair has asked a judge not to hear any further cases involving it due to comments made by her in some earlier cases, including saying “it kills me stone dead” to fly with the airline.Ryanair claims that other comments made by District Court Judge Stephanie Coggans in different cases suggest a “hostility” towards, and “dislike” of, the airline such that an objective observer would think there was a risk it would not get a fair hearing before her.On that basis, senior counsel Martin Hayden applied to Coggans at Balbriggan District Court on Thursday to recuse herself (withdraw) from hearing any cases involving Ryanair.It is “trendy” to complain about Ryanair; the airline “has to face that day in and day out” but it “should not have to deal with it from the bench”, counsel said during submissions. READ MOREAfter the application concluded, Coggans said she needed time to consider the evidence and the case law submitted and would give her decision on December 2nd. In an affidavit put before the judge, Thomas McNamara, Ryanair’s director of legal, referred to a number of cases dealt with by her, including one by a man who sued Ryanair over missing his flight despite claiming to be at the gate at the time of it closing. The man had claimed he had not received “a last call” and Ryanair’s solicitor said last calls are not done by the airline, said McNamara. He said Coggans then “inexplicably commented that she believed they should”, went on to say she knew Ryanair did not do last calls “because I travel with them myself, although it kills me” and later said: “It kills me stone dead.”Coggans also remarked to a witness there “is frequently what I can only describe as a forceful method of dealing with people and that is what drives them mad, and that is what drives me mad, and I think sometimes people are treated very badly when very, very, very, very, very considerable amounts of money are made in profit”. She had added: “It wouldn’t kill you to be halfways polite to people.”[ Ryanair’s plan for €50m hangar at Shannon Airport stallsOpens in new window ]In another case, where it became apparent an individual’s claim before the small claims court must fail as a matter of law, Coggans “again became antagonistic” towards Ryanair, describing what had happened in relation to its booking process as “an absolute disgrace” and saying the airline had “got lucky”, said McNamara. In that case, involving a claim for €950 from Ryanair, the claimant said she believed she had booked a flight for her family to Italy and was unaware her payment had been denied and, as such, her booking was not complete. It was only when she went to check her booking the day before the flight that she saw a message from Ryanair stating there was a problem with the booking.McNamara said, in another case, Ryanair had complained to the judge about comments she had made, including about a quote attributed in a newspaper article to the judge about a “complete imbalance of power” between Ryanair and the particular claimant. He said Coggans had responded that she had not used those words and had said: “I said that the issue of Ryanair appearing with solicitor and counsel at all times when people are here as claimants with nobody lacked balance.” She also said she stood by a previous comment that “it wouldn’t kill Ryanair to be halfway polite to people”, said McNamara. She had further said: “I have said plenty about how Ryanair conducts its business; I am not denying that. I am not taking it back either.”In submissions, Hayden, with barrister Roland Rowan, said the application was based on repeated comments going beyond the adjudication of particular issues and capable of being understood as disclosing an adverse personal view of Ryanair as an airline, commercial operator and litigant.[ Why did it take Michael O’Leary 10 days to cop on that his comments on rape were wrong?Opens in new window ]The comments were such that a reasonable, objective and informed observer, in possession of all the facts, would have a reasonable apprehension that Ryanair may not receive a fair and impartial hearing before the judge, he submitted.Hayden referred to a 2010 case in which then High Court judge Peter Kelly initially refused an application by Ryanair to recuse himself arising from a previous comment by him, in another case, that, having regard to “untruths” by Ryanair to the court, about the court and about the minister for transport, “the truth and Ryanair are uncomfortable bedfellows”. Kelly rejected Ryanair’s arguments that the comment amounted to objective bias. In 2011, after Ryanair had indicated it would appeal his refusal to recuse to the Supreme Court, Kelly said that, only because of the delays of up to three years such an appeal would mean, in relation to the particular case, he would recuse himself from hearing that case.