Daata Have Their Day In Court

The Daata family APR24

t was a pre-dawn garda raid on December 6th 2024 at the Greystones home of Daata co-director Fahid Saleem that uncovered personal documents belonging to a migrant chef working at the award-winning Pakistani restaurant.

Only trouble was, the migrant in question claims he was “never made aware” of a debit card in his name.

For his part, Saleem told the Workplace Relations Commission that he had “zero knowledge” that his wife had been given the documents belonging to the chef, her orphaned cousin Mohammad Usman Ghani.

Brought to Ireland on a work permit in 2023, Mr Ghani’s sworn evidence revealed that he knew nothing of a debit card for a bank account into which his wages were being paid, and that he only got access “thanks to the guards”.

Represented by Sylwia Nowakoska and Pretty Ndawo of the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI), Ghani claimed that his wages were “withheld” while he was working at its takeaway and restaurant in Bray for “about 70 hours a week”.

When it came to that work, he said that company director Fahid Saleem “was putting pressure on me all the time”.

“There were dishes I would make – he would say, ‘Make it again, it’s not okay’, time and time, again and again’.” Ghani also stated that Mr Saleem would remind him “again and again, ‘your work permit is on us, your accommodation is from us’.”

Giving direct evidence to the tribunal, Mr Saleem said, “I treat all my staff… as part of my family, and I would never threaten, harass or bully, or annoy, any of them.”

The court heard that Mr Ghani lost both of his parents when he was “very young”, and that Mr Saleem brought him to Ireland in July 2023 at significant expense. He also argued that he would not be able to get the orders out in the takeaway if he told Mr Ghani to cook meals “again and again”.

Fahid Saleem

Saleem also dismissed the suggestion that he threatened to deport Mr Ghani as “very stupid”, Mr Ghani having explained to the court that he left Daata on August 1st, 2024 after being told he faced being “deported back to Pakistan” after making a “small mistake” and being reprimanded for “not working faster”.

It was on August 2nd, 2024 that Mr Saleem became aware that Mr Ghani was absent from the staff house owned by his younger sister, Daata co-director Aliha Saleem.

As to the bank account, he stated that he gave the worker cash “for the first couple of months” before bank transfers commenced. Adjudication officer Breiffnie O’Neill stated that Mr Ghani “was never made aware at any stage in the immediate aftermath of the account being opened of any card”. Susan M Jones, instructed by Jones Magee Solicitors, for the company, submitted that there was a “credibility issue” with Mr Ghani and that they had witnesses who would testify to him “operating his bank card”.

When it came to Mr Ghani’s claim that he “would work six days a week”, Mr Saleem answered that he had time to take breaks and had access to the restaurant premises before work to cook his own meals.

When it came to claiming for pay in lieu for working public holidays, including Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day in 2023, Mr Saleem’s response was, “We don’t open on 25th, 26th, 27th December”. Mr O’Neill pointed out that Mr Saleem had signed off on a timesheet that recorded Mr Ghani working on those days, to which he replied, “It might have been an oversight on my part”.

On Thursday afternoon, MRCI said in a statement that matters had been “amicably resolved” following talks.