Courts / Wicklow / Report

'When nature called': driver who said he had to urinate in bottle on delivery runs wins €15k

Date
2023-07-05

Stage
Hearing Or Decision

Primary locality
Bray

County
Wicklow

Summary

Dumitru Sehleanu, a van driver, won €15,000 in compensation from Cordelia Foods Ltd following a Workplace Relations Commission hearing. The adjudicator found that the company committed longstanding breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act, specifically regarding excessive hours and lack of breaks. Mr. Sehleanu alleged he worked 12 to 13-hour days, driving 600km to 900km routes, and was forced to urinate in a bottle due to the inability to take rest periods. The adjudicator accepted this evidence, awarding €7,500 for rest period violations and a further €7,500 for exceeding weekly maximum hours between May and August 2020. However, Mr. Sehleanu's claims for constructive dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Act, penalisation under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, and a National Minimum Wage Act complaint were all rejected. The adjudicator ruled that while the working time breaches were significant, they did not constitute a repudiatory breach of contract because Mr. Sehleanu resigned without first raising the issues with his employer. The minimum wage claim failed due to procedural non-compliance. The total award was €15,000. Mr. Sehleanu has since secured new employment as a firefighter in Bray.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: 'When nature called': driver who said he had to urinate in bottle on delivery runs wins €15k. Charges or matters: working excessive hours without breaks; constructive dismissal; penalisation; National Minimum Wage Act complaint. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

January 2022 Hearing Or Sentence
11 May 2020 Other
10 August 2020 Other
2023-07-05 Publication

Why: A van driver who said he had to urinate in a bottle because of the pressure of 10-hour cross-country delivery runs for an Italian food importer has won €15,000 for working excessive hours without breaks. CNI source report