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Latest in Employment Law>Case Law>Levente Szabo v Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited t/a Thorntons Recycling [2012]
Levente Szabo v Padraig Thornton Waste Disposal Limited t/a Thorntons Recycling [2012]
Published on: 08/11/2012
Issues Covered: Discrimination Pay
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Background

This case was only upheld on the equal pay point but is worth mentioning on the issue of illegal contracts. The complainant, a Romanian citizen of Hungarian origins, was employed by the respondent employer from February 2007 until his resignation in May 2009.

He claimed that a director of the company had advised him to get a false Hungarian passport when an application for a work permit under his Romanian passport failed. Eventually, when the tax authorities became aware of his work status, he was persuaded to resign. In the end, the Tribunal did not accept the complainant’s version of events but did make an award of €5,000 compensation on the equal pay point, for the effects of the discrimination plus arrears of pay of €950.

The case is of interest as the Court of Appeal in England and Wales has recently ruled on the issue of ‘illegal contracts’ in Hounga v Allen [2012] EWCA Civ 609. Its approach was to draw a distinction between situations in which the worker ‘actively participated’ in the illegality of the contractual arrangement or merely acquiesced to it.

This Szabo case appeared potentially to come within the former category. However all such cases are governed by EU Equality Directives and it remains to be seen whether the Court of Justice of the EU takes a similar view as the English courts to the scope of the Directives in terms of illegal employment relationships.


http://www.equalitytribunal.ie/Database-of-Decisions/2012/Employment-Equality-Decisions/DEC-E2012-100-Full-Case-Report.html 

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 08/11/2012
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