Is it a theft?

Albundy30

Hi i am just looking for some advice about a matter that is on going.

My partner worked for 2 weeks as a rep for a Lithuania food company who are based in Lithuania, a friend of a friend asked her to do the job so she took it. She was told by her new employer to contact another Lithuanian company based here in Dublin who are to pay her and supply her with a laptop and phone.
She got the phone and laptop but there was a dispute over them paying her so she stopped working. 2 weeks went by and the Dublin based company contacted her to give back the phone and laptop..... as she had not been paid by either company for the 2 weeks work she did she told them she was going to keep the items until she was paid!

This morning she got a letter from the Dublin based company informing her that if the items are not returned then they will go to the guards.

What i am wondering is do they have a case against her? There is no proof in text or writing that she has the items. There was a spoken agreement that she would be paid by them each week which they went back on and there was a spoken agreement that she would hold onto the items until her work was done which she went back on! Should it not just be a case of 'lets forget about it'? I mean the phone and laptop are as cheap as they come and my Partners wages owed total a good bit more then the items! The Dublin based company are saying they have no connection to my partner and therefore has stolen the items and that if she has a problem about not been paid then she should contact the Lithuania based company!

I know it is a silly matter and could be solved by just giving the items back....but there is the case of her unpaid wages that she wont let go so easy. Basically i want to know can the guards come up with the Dublin based companies people and enter our home looking for the items?

Any advice is appreciated

Albundy30

Also the two companies are not connected at all other then by both owners being friends with each other! And the letter the Dublin based company sent was from their solicitor so it is safe to say they plan on following through on their threat of going to the guards.

jaspertheghost

well if they have no connection to her(as they put it) how did she get the items?? leave them go to the guards,you go to trading standards or whoever deals with this sort of thing,has she records of the work she`s done???

jaspertheghost

and they cant come up and search your house, they``ll need a warrant to enter,what i would suggest is put the items somewhere else,plus the guards probably wont be to bothered about this type of thing as they have other things to be doing,if you are worried then i would contact a solicitor to know what your best options are.

Albundy30

Hi, Thank you.
Yes she kept a log of all the people she called and the places she visited. We really don't want the laptop or phone as we both have bill phones and i own my own computer repair business and have tons of computers here. It is really just the principle of the matter now and not letting them threat her this way.

seamus

On the face of it, no she is not entitled to withhold company property in lieu of pay, and yes it could be considered theft.

jaspertheghost

one thing you probably will find is that ye`re not the first people this has been done to,and probably wont be the last,if you return the property and take them to court on a civil suit then you may get whats owed,but again this could be a long drawn out process..

Albundy30

seamus wrote: »

On the face of it, no she is not entitled to withhold company property in lieu of pay, and yes it could be considered theft.

Even if she never actually worked for the company that gave her the items? Again there is no written proof that the items were given to her. They seem to be making the case that they gave her a phone and laptop as a favour to a friend whom my partner worked for and now the work has been terminated they want their items back.

I am of the thinking that she just give the items back and we sort out the unpaid wages with the Lithuanian based company....but as they are not in Ireland and have gone silent i fear she will never get paid and this matter will be dragged out with end result being she gets nothing.

Zambia

seamus wrote: »

On the face of it, no she is not entitled to withhold company property in lieu of pay, and yes it could be considered theft.

I would disagree there is a claim of right there.

Its like a mechanic holding your car until you pay for the work done.

MagicSean

It's a civil matter. A Garda would be silly to try and make it criminal.

Albundy30

Thank you for replies, We will either return items or put them out of the way until some agreement has been made to pay her wages. We were both just a little worried about the threat of guards as no laptop or phone is worth having them turn up at your door and having the neighbourhood gossip

BrianD

Can it be claimed that the items are being witheld as a lien?

You would need to make quite clear that you are not returning the items on that basis and when matters are settled you will return them. On that basis it's a civil matter and the Gardai would have no interest in this civil dispute.