An air conditioning technician pursuing his former employer for unpaid wages says accusations that he was drug-driving in a company van and doing work under the influence are “false claims based on wind”.
However, his former boss has said documents found in the company vehicle when it was recovered by gardaí stated the worker faced being put off the road on foot of a drug test – backing up his suspicions that the worker had been showing up to work “a little bit off-kilter”.
“His money is in Mullingar. It’s sitting in cash. When he comes to pick it up, our solicitor and the gardaí are going to be waiting there,” the businessman told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The worker, Nathan Collins, is pursuing €1,650 from Nical Engineering Ltd in a complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 – money the company admits it owes to Mr Collins after he quit ten working days into a new job on 13 September 2024.
The company maintains Mr Collins owes it a “counter-debt” of around €3,500 because of the alleged state of the work van after its seizure.
At a hearing, the company’s representative, Hugh Hegarty of Peninsula Business Services, said: “There’s no denying the money is owed. There’s extenuating circumstances in relation to the behaviour of the complainant at the time of his resignation.”
“My wages have been paid into a bank account; now you’re telling me I have to drive up and collect cash. That’s against the law,” Mr Collins said.
Giving evidence, company director John Masterson said he decided a couple of days into Mr Collins’ employment that he had issues with his work, but said nothing and decided to “keep going a week or two”.
Mr Collins then failed to turn up for work on the Monday of what would have been his third week on the job, having gone home to an address in Galway with a company van valued at €25,000, Mr Masterson said.
“We had to go straight to getting the guards involved,” he said.
“Because of the way Mr Collins had dealt with [the van], we had to fumigate it and clean it out,” Mr Masterson said. He put the cost of putting the van back to a fit state was in the region of €3,500.
“There was paperwork Mr Collins had left behind him [stating] that he’d been drug tested a few weeks earlier and he was actually to be put off the road if he was to stay with us,” Mr Masterson said.
“He held us over a barrel by holding a vehicle worth €25,000,” the businessman said.
“We have absolutely no problem paying Mr Collins what he’s due. His money is in Mullingar. It’s sitting in cash. When he comes to pick it up, our solicitor and the gardaí are going to be waiting there”, he added.
Invited to cross-examine Mr Masterson, Mr Collins said he had tried to call his former boss.
“He blocked my number,” Mr Collins said. Mr Masterson said it was his practice in such circumstances not to engage and left the matter with another employee who dealt with “paperwork to do with hiring or firing”.
“One or two of the days Mr Collins landed in, he was a little bit off-kilter in relation to whatever substance he was taking or what he was on,” the businessman said.
“I did mention that there was the information in the vehicle to state he had been drug-driving, backing up my view he had been carrying out duties under the influence of some substance, driving around in our van,” he added.
Adjudication officer Penelope McGrath asked Mr Collins for his response.
“He’s making a load of false claims on wind. I don’t understand what his claims are. I’m here to get the money I’m owed,” he said.
His evidence was that the company never texted him on the Monday morning telling him where to go – a point later disputed by Karine Murray, a company witness who said she was responsible for sending out job assignments.
“There’s a load of other stuff I’m not going to argue about, it seems pointless,” Mr Collins said.
“I just told them they could come collect the van, and they said they wanted me to drop it back up. I told them I’d drop it up on the Friday when my wages went through into my account and they started up with the stuff about come up and take cash”.
“I just left the van outside my house and went about my business,” Mr Collins said.
“The money’s in Mullingar, if the man wants to come up and get it,” Mr Masterson said.
Ms McGrath said she had all she needed to make her decision and closed the hearing.
