UAE airline supervisor fired for sleeping on flight

Abu Dhabi - The two airhostesses - who took the photos of the Arab man - got suspended jail sentence.

Two air hostesses have been suspended jail sentence for taking pictures of a colleague sleeping on a flight
Convicted of infringing the privacy of their colleague, the women have been given a 6-month suspended jail sentence.
The accused showed the photograph to their Human Resource manager who fired the man caught sleeping.
Abu Dhabi Appeal Court upheld an earlier ruling by the Court of First Instance that found the Australian and South African airhostesses guilty of breaching Arab man's privacy.
Official court documents stated that the two hostesses, working for a UAE national airline, allegedly took the photos of their Arab supervisor and head of the cabin crew with their mobile phones while he was asleep during a flight - without his knowledge - on a flight from Abu Dhabi to South Africa.
The two showed the pictures to their HR manager after they returned from South Africa, who allegedly terminated the man's contract for poor performance and breach of duties.
The man had filed a complaint against the pair for infringing on his privacy by taking photos of him without his consent.  
"I was just relaxing on a seat after serving food to passengers when the defendants took his photos," the man told the court at a previous hearing.  
"I did nothing wrong and they were wrong to take photos of me without my knowledge."  
Both airhostesses have denied taking the man's photos through their trial.
Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance had earlier given the pair six months in jail but they challenged the sentence in the Appeals Court.  
The appeal court judge however downgraded the six-month-jail sentences to suspended ones - which means the pair will not be serving a jail term.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi