A Ukrainian trucker who made court history by giving evidence at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) remotely from an “active battlefield” has won €3,500 for unfair dismissal and other employment rights breaches.
Ruslan Rybak was serving in the Ukrainian military at the time of his most recent hearing.
An adjudicating officer found Mr Rybak’s employment relationship was almost “wild west” in character, with the complainant, who had lived in his truck cab to avoid paying rent, working for months and years at a time in between returns to Ukraine.
Mr Rybak told the tribunal that he was sacked by Dublin haulier Noel Hughes “without any procedures or right of appeal” on July 1st, 2020, following a verbal exchange with a customer earlier that day.
‘A good and decent man’: Tributes paid to Pope Francis
New teachers will be fast-tracked into permanent posts to tackle staffing ‘crisis’
‘Something needs to be done’: Jogger injured by e-bike feels ‘let down’ over Garda failure to prosecute
Decking, doughnuts and jogging: 25 fads that have been big in Ireland
Mr Rybak’s case was that he was “constantly under work pressure” at the time, with “long work periods that necessitated sleeping in the truck for over a year”. On the day he lost his job, the customer “kept ringing him on his mobile” about delivery times, he told the WRC.
He replied that he was not “driving a rocket” and a “testy exchange” followed, a tribunal adjudicator recorded in a summary of Mr Rybak’s evidence.
Mr Hughes’s position was that Mr Rybak had a habit of leaving the job “abruptly” to go home to Ukraine. The employer called Mr Rybak “an excellent heavy truck driver who generally worked without complaint” and said he rehired him each time he returned.
In addition to his claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, Mr Rybak’s advocate, Marius Marosan, argued the employer was in breach of several other employment laws.
Mr Marosan also submitted that the employer failed to pay his client in lieu for working public holidays, though it was conceded a premium had been paid for Sunday work.
Mr Rybak’s evidence was that he got “no proper breaks”, had to “eat and sleep in the truck cabin” and “sometimes had to work 100 hours non-stop”.
In response, Mr Hughes produced employment documents, tachograph records, and a letter from the WRC’s inspectors.
He said Mr Rybak lived “completely voluntarily” in the truck cabin and took showers at an Irish Cement site. The worker turned down offers of accommodation as he “did not wish to pay any rent”.
In his decision, adjudicator Michael McEntee said Mr Rybak had clearly built up “quite a head of steam” before meeting his employer in the yard, and a “salty exchange” ensued with his employer.
Mr McEntee concluded there most likely was a dismissal and said an on-the-spot dismissal is a “non-runner”. However, he said the employer’s actions had to be “heavily discounted” by Mr Rybak’s actions.
Deciding Mr Rybak was 50 per cent responsible for his dismissal, Mr McEntee awarded him €2,000 under the Unfair Dismissals Act.
Mr McEntee said it would require “very extensive forensic analysis by tachograph experts” to address the contest over the working time complaints.
“It was clear the overall employment relationship was quite irregular, almost wild west in character, with the complainant working for a few months, even years, and then disappearing,” Mr McEntee said.
“His family were home in the Ukraine. He clearly wished to reside in the truck cab to avoid paying rent, it appears,” he noted. “He obviously wished to work to the maximum amount possible and was not particularly interested in breaks, etc, as he had, by his own choice, no domestic life in Ireland,” Mr McEntee added.
He said Mr Rybak should receive “a round sum of €1,000” comprising €250 for four breaches of working time legislation, which he upheld on the balance of probabilities.
Mr McEntee said it was “probably” the first instance of witness evidence being received by the WRC from a “battlefield”.
He directed that Mr Rybak should be paid a lump sum of €500 in lieu of public holiday payments, bringing the total awards to €3,500.
