The High Court has cleared the way for 491 Turkish construction workers to bring an action in Ireland, rather than Turkey, against their employers for some €40.3 million compensation over alleged underpayment of wages and benefits while they were working here on State contracts.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne today rejected the challenge by Gama Endustari Tesisleri Imalat Montaj AS (Gama Turkey) and its wholly owned Irish company, Gama Construction Ireland Ltd, to the jurisdiction of the Irish courts to hear the workers action against both companies.
The workers are claiming some €40.3 million compensation and damages for alleged breach of contract and breach of duty. They are seeking exemplary damages arising from the manner in which their wages were allegedly withheld and/or how their employment was terminated when they made complaints.
The cases arise as a result of the involvement from 2000 of both Gama companies in National Development Programme infrastructural works in Ireland. Gama employed 1,066 people here in 2003 and in 2005, when a dispute over wages broke out, had 927 permits for workers from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
In February 2005, then Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins told the Dáil Gama "imports" workers from Turkey and paid them around €2-€3 per hour in breach of the minimum wage law. He also claimed the workers were required to work "grotesque" hours, were accommodated in company barracks and their situation was a modern version of "bonded labour".
The Minister for Enterprise, who said his department had received assurances from Gama Ireland all provisions of Irish employment law would be observed and the ‘going rate' would be paid to all Turkish workers, ordered its labour inspectorate to investigate the claims.
Gama Turkey later sought an undertaking that inspector's report would not be published and, when that was not given, took legal proceedings. In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled there were no powers of general publication of the report and those entitled to have sight of it were confined to State bodies with a criminal prosecutorial function.
In her reserved judgment today on the jurisdictional issue, Ms Justice Dunne noted both defendants had entered conditional appearances in the proceedings for the sole purpose of contesting the jurisdiction of the Irish courts to hear the action.
In seeking to have the case heard in Ireland, the workers argued they were employed here under the terms of a Registered Employment Agreement and the applicable law is Irish law. They also claimed there was "clear and unequivocal evidence" the defendants had breached Irish employment law.
The judge noted the workers also submitted a key issue in the case will be "the investigation required to clarify and ascertain the method by which monies were routed from Ireland, and presumably Gama Ireland, to Finans Bank and then transferred to Ryder Investments MV". They also argued large amounts of their claims would be statute barred in Turkey.
Ms Justice Dunne ruled the plaintiff workers had established the appropriate forum for the hearing of the proceedings is Ireland, not Turkey.
The plaintiffs had demonstrated the action has "the most real and substantial connection" with this jursidiction, the issues involved the enforcement of REA's applicable to Ireland and the events concerned the involvement of the workers with the defendants on work on projects in Ireland, she said. There were also issues about the movement from this jurisdiction of monies apparently due to workers.
The judge rejected other arguments of the defendants that some of the claims should be halted on grounds 102 of the plaintiffs had brought similar proceedings in Turkey. She also dismissed arguments the case should be halted on grounds it was inappropriate to bring proceedings on behalf of 491 people on the basis of one plenary summons.
