A video game development company, 9th Impact Ltd, based in Galway, has been instructed by a tribunal to compensate an Indian worker, Kumar Swapneel Shreyansh, €5,000 for racial discrimination. The company had stopped paying Mr Shreyansh’s salary for several months citing “financial troubles”, while continuing to remunerate some of his Irish co-workers. This decision increased Mr Shreyansh’s total awarded payouts to approximately €20,000, following various job rights grievances lodged against 9th Impact where he served from October 2020 to December 2023, earning €33,756 per year.
Mr Shreyansh was among four previous 9th Impact staff members to successfully receive non-payment orders from the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) this year. In March, the WRC mandated a payment of €5,000 for his unpaid October and November 2023 wages. After this, Mr Shreyansh filed an additional complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 for December 2023’s unpaid wages and for the company’s failure to compensate him for 12 accumulated annual leave days upon his termination three days prior Christmas that year.
Mr Shreyansh further accused the company of violating the Employment Equality Act 1998 and Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, alleging that his termination was executed without following standard procedures and that 9th Impact had racially discriminated against him by failing to pay his wages. His uncontroverted evidence was his zero pay for October, November, and December 2023. He also stated in front of the WRC that, after a phone conversation with the company’s head, it seemed that other workers were paid, leaving him unpaid. Moreover, he was obligated to assume additional duties as his colleagues departed, which indicated that the company “seemed to have financial issues” according to Mr Shreyansh.
The adjudicator, Louise Boyle, addressed the case of Mr Shreyansh, an Indian worker who alleged racial discrimination due to non-payments. She noted that the paid individuals were of Irish heritage. In his evidence, Mr Shreyansh accused the management of deliberately deciding not to reimburse him.
During the period from November 2023 to January 2024, Mr Shreyansh had communicated with 9th Impact on several occasions regarding the payment discrepancy. He questioned whether the main factor behind their decision not to pay him was his race. However, Ms Boyle pointed out in her report that the company ignored these concerns.
Upon assessment of Mr Shreyansh’s evidence and the correspondence between him and the company, she concluded an inclination of racial discrimination had been suggested, indicating that the company bore the burden of proof. Despite evaluating all details regarding the complaint, and acknowledging that the company did not attend any of the convened hearings, Ms Boyle found the company had failed to meet their burden.
She stressed the company’s disregard for the complainant and stated that Mr Shreyansh had indeed faced racial discrimination. Taking into account the defendant’s failures and their damaging effect on Mr Shreyansh, she awarded him €5,000. Additionally, she granted him €3,085.20 for his overdue wages and €6,500 for a ten-week earnings loss due to an unfair dismissal verdict.
This ruling represents the fifth occasion that 9th Impact has been ordered to pay overdue wages since 2024 began and includes a previous case brought by Mr Shreyansh. In comparison to prior rulings, this recent award is the most significant, totalling €27,824.61 against the company. The firm did not attend any of the five hearings organised by the WRC in response to employment rights cases brought against it, according to published decisions on those cases.