Labour Court dismisses Michael Mcgagh’s late appeal

The Labour Court dismissed Michael Mcgagh’s late appeal against a decision in his Payment of Wages Act complaint against U-Casadh, affirming the adjudication officer’s ruling that the complaint was well founded. The Court’s decision was dated 29 January 2024. The merits were not decided on appeal. The appeal was due by 20 April 2023 but reached the Court on 26 April. McGagh said his representative’s surgery and recovery, and a mistaken belief that weekends did not count towards the 42-day deadline, caused the delay. U-Casadh argued the surgery did not prevent a timely appeal. The Court found the solicitor’s practice had capacity to file the appeal while the representative was absent, and that no case had been made that illness prevented an earlier filing. It found no justifiable excuse for the delay.