Roy Zakka, a fintech entrepreneur, has been accused by a previous high-ranking employee of making discriminatory comments about Irish workers. The former employee, Mary O’Dell, has been awarded over €90,000 in unpaid wages and compensation for unfair dismissal.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) mentioned these allegations in a decision published on Thursday, made against Layer Digital Solutions Ltd, Zakka’s company. It was alleged that Zakka made these comments during a phone conversation towards the end of May of the previous year.
Orders for backpay and compensation totalling over €240,000 have now been imposed upon the company due to the recent awards to Ms O’Dell. Since last Autumn, the company has already been directed to make payments varying from €18,125 to €35,057 to six additional employees, which included former high-ranking firm personnel.
O’Dell, formerly a senior client delivery manager at the firm with an annual salary of €99,750, received €91,188.13 following complaints under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 and the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977.
During the call, Zakka was described as “thoroughly unprofessional” and blamed the company’s predicaments on an Irish executive, just four days after the company had failed to meet its payroll obligations. This was when several Irish employees were informed about their impending redundancy, according to the tribunal.
Despite Zakka or his business not responding to the allegations, the tribunal made its ruling, confident that Layer was aware of the March 5th hearing.
Setanta Solicitors’ Conor McCrave represented O’Dell, who hadn’t received her wages since April 28th, 2023. The tribunal heard that similar wage non-payment situations caused a substantial morale problem at the firm.
The complainant had been informed that the corporation was trying to secure a loan from a Saudi business to solve their payment issues, but nothing had changed to date.
The tribunal learnt that Ms O’Dell sent email communications to Mr Zakka and the company’s HR chief, Jacqueline Haddad Zakka, which went ignored. She found out from coworkers on May 29th that they had been made redundant via emails. Paul Cunningham, her direct supervisor, told her the subsequent day that he had been let go.
Ms O’Dell alleges that Mr Zakka informed her by email the same day, or close to that time, that he was assuming Mr Cunningham’s duties. He then made a phone call to her. She picked up, only to have Mr Zakka make disparaging comments about Irish individuals and speak poorly about Mr Cunningham’s performance, seemingly pointing the finger at him for problems in Mr Zakka’s business, the tribunal kept a record of Ms O’Dell’s claims.
Ms O’Dell, Mr Zakka, and the HR director continued to correspond and have meetings into the summer months of that year, according to the tribunal.
By September 2023, Ms O’Dell was forced to instruct her legal team to write to the company to state that she had no other assumption but her employment had been ended due to unpaid wages for months and her official complaint had been left without response, the tribunal was informed.
Jim Dolan, the judge, had to assess the justifiability of the employer’s actions as well as the severity of the alleged contractual violation during his ruling. Mr Dolan ruled that the company had gravely failed in both aspects, declaring that they were in violation of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, and awarded €52,368.75 to Ms O’Dell as recompense.
The company was also ordered to pay Ms O’Dell unpaid wages amounting to €38,819.38. In total, Ms O’Dell received €91,188.13 in response to her grievances.
Ms O’Dell is the seventh ex-workmate from the fintech startup to successfully claim for unpaid wages. Her wage award surpasses the €35,057 that her prior supervisor, Paul Cunningham, received last autumn.
In a distinct judgement announced today, the WRC dismissed a demand for €12,000 by a previous contractor of Layer, Rodrique Rizk. Mr Rizk alleged he was due this amount for services rendered to the company during June, July, and August of the previous year. Mr Rizk, whose business is situated in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, was not considered an employee of Layer during the crucial period by Mr Dolan. Mr Dolan also evaluated Mr Rizk’s case under the Payment of Wages Act, decreeing that Mr Rizk was not eligible to reclaim the aforementioned sum.