Courts / Ireland / Report

Tech entrepreneur ordered to pay out over wage arrears

Summary

Tech entrepreneur Ian Lucey was ordered by the Workplace Relations Commission to pay €19,713.45 to software developer Abhijeet Khopade for unpaid wages. Khopade, who earned €66,000 a year as senior technology manager at BioObservation Systems Ltd, had been given assurances that his arrears for 2019 and 2020 would be paid, but received only intermittent payments. Lucey defended the claim personally at a June 2021 hearing, stating the company had paid the amounts due, and also alleged that Khopade had harassed him and that the company had lost grant aid because of Khopade. The adjudicating officer noted that Lucey had turned his camera off during the hearing and that no payslips existed to support the payments. The Commission found the payments did not meet the wages accruing within the cognisable period and ordered Lucey to pay the full amount owed.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Tech entrepreneur ordered to pay out over wage arrears. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• June 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• December 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
• September 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 2019 Other
• March 2020 Other
• 2019 and 2020 Other
• 2023-01-25 Publication

Why: Mr Lucey's position at the time of the proceedings was that the company was "initiating proceedings in the High Court against the complainant for dereliction of duty", adding that it was alleged the company had lost out on grant aid because of Mr Khopade. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report