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Ryanair Sues Outgoing COO Peter Bellew Amid Easyjet Move

Ryanair Sues Outgoing COO Peter Bellew Amid Easyjet Move

(Bloomberg) -- Ryanair Holdings Plc sued its outgoing Chief Operations Officer, Peter Bellew, after the executive agreed to move to rival Easyjet Plc.

The Irish airline filed a lawsuit in the Irish High Court against Bellew on Aug. 6, according to court filings in Dublin. Details on the case weren’t immediately available.

Ryanair Sues Outgoing COO Peter Bellew Amid Easyjet Move

Bellew planned to leave Ryanair at the end of 2019, he said in July. The 54-year-old spent a decade at Ryanair before exiting in 2014 and becoming CEO of Malaysia Airlines as it sought to recover from two fatal crashes. He returned to the Irish airline in 2017.

Bellew’s contract includes a six-month notice period, and all Ryanair senior management contracts “have a pretty extensive non-compete agreement,” Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary said on a call with analysts July 29. He declined to comment further on an individual’s contract or termination, citing legal reasons.

Ryanair and Easyjet declined to comment on the lawsuit. Bellew also declined to comment, saying it was a legal matter.

The case, which was reported earlier by Fora.ie, is Ryanair DAC -V- Bellew 2019/6239 P

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Anthony Aarons, Dara Doyle

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.