A solicitor’s receptionist who said she was left “financially challenged” for months after being left out of work when her ex-employer closed down his law office has become the second worker to win a claim for unpaid wages against him.
The worker, Charlotte O’Regan, has won an order for the payment of wages, worth €830.73 gross, more than a year after she was let go by David Gaffney, trading as Gaffney Solicitors.
The Workplace Relations Commission gave the direction on foot of Ms O’Regan’s complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1991, to which Mr Gaffney entered no defence.
The tribunal heard that Mr Gaffney wrote to Ms O’Regan on April 26th, 2024 informing her that her job would be terminated on Friday, May 3rd, 2024.
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“On the termination date, should there be sufficient funds, you shall receive your statutory redundancy entitlement and accrued annual leave entitlements,” Mr Gaffney’s letter stated.
“Alternatively, I, with the assistance of [my] accountants shall assist you in making an application to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the purpose of obtaining such statutory entitlements,” it added.
Ms O’Regan explained that her efforts to secure the sum of €873.73 in unpaid wages was met initially with a “stated positive plan to pay” by Mr Gaffney which “did not materialise”.
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Ms O’Regan said she was “financially challenged” for the six months following her dismissal up to October 2024, when she got advice on the matter and wrote to Mr Gaffney re-stating her claim for unpaid wages.
She pointed out in her letter that she had “no recourse” to the Insolvency Payment Scheme because she had been his direct employee as “an unincorporated sole trader”.
Adjudicator Patsy Doyle noted in her decision that there was “no appearance by or on behalf of” Mr Gaffney and that “no defence was offered in the case”.
Ms Doyle wrote that €870.73 in gross wages, comprising three days’ work and a week’s pay in lieu of notice was due to Ms O’Regan and made an order for the payment of the net value of the wages after statutory deductions.
The adjudicator wrote that it was “regrettable” to see a “deterioration in WhatsApp communications” over the six months Ms O’Regan was pursuing her wages.
She wrote that it had been a “mistake” for the worker to keep a set of office keys in a bid to strengthen her hand.
“I make this order in the hope that payment of this amount will afford closure to the complainant in what has clearly been a distressing pursuance of unpaid wages,” Ms Doyle added.
Ms O’Regan is the second former employee of the law office to secure a claim for unpaid wages against the solicitor, following a decision in favour of his former secretary, Leona Erangey, for some €4,687.
In Ms Erangey’s case, it was noted that Mr Gaffney appeared before the tribunal at a hearing on November 28th, 2024 and confirmed that he was “insolvent”.
