Courts / Galway / Report

Businessman tells WRC he's unsure he's ever met worker

Date
2023-01-24
Stage
Charge Or Pretrial
Primary locality
Galway
County
Galway

Summary

During a remote hearing before the Workplace Relations Commission, Jason Gallagher, owner of WFD Food Delivery Galway Ltd, denied any employment relationship with William McDonagh, who had filed statutory complaints alleging discriminatory dismissal and other breaches. Gallagher claimed his company had no employees, was merely a marketing and publishing venture involving only him and his wife, and that he had never met McDonagh. He disputed the complaint's stated start date of November 2020 and argued that the company had never traded. The complainant's solicitor, Ciarán Tansey, noted that the respondent had not filed any submissions despite the complainant's 200‑page submission. The adjudicating officer, Brian Dolan, allowed the complainant to amend the complaint form and adjourned the matter, instructing Gallagher to submit full responses within ten working days and the complainant to reply within two weeks. The next hearing will address the amendment request and proceed to a full hearing of the complaints.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Businessman tells WRC he's unsure he's ever met worker. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

Why: It's been very difficult for us to prepare because we've had nothing," said counsel for the complainant Ciarán Tansey of Damien Tansey Solicitors LLP. CNI source report

Case subjects

Ciarán Tansey

Applicant

Outcome: He adjourned the matter and asked Mr Gallagher to make a full set of submissions within ten working days, with responses due from the complainant side in the fortnight following that.

Places mentioned

Secondary Mention
Residence

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial

Related court reports

Read the original CNI report

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