A father of four won €5,000 from his former employer who fired him for refusing to work unless he was paid.
Anthony Falzon took his former employer, Adolf Baldacchino, who runs Silver Shadow, to the Industrial Tribunal claiming unfair dismissal after he refused to work without remuneration.
The tribunal ruled that Mr Falzon had been dismissed illegally and pointed out that Mr Baldacchino had also ignored a Criminal Court judgment two years ago when ordering him to pay Mr Falzon about €3,500 in backdated wages.
Mr Falzon was a construction worker and was paid every fortnight, standard practice in the industry. However, in summer 2009, Mr Baldacchino got nothing on pay day.
When another fortnight went by, he approached Mr Baldacchino to ask him why he had not been paid. He was referred to Mr Baldacchino’s partner, who said he had nothing to do with missed payments and referred him back to Mr Baldacchino.
Mr Falzon insisted on getting paid, especially since two of his children were disabled and he needed money to pay for their expenses, including medication and surgical interventions abroad.
Mr Falzon told his employer that he was not prepared to work without getting paid for it.
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