A leading cosmetic doctor has secured an order for more than €90,000 in unpaid salary and compensation after being ousted as a company director at a beauty clinic firm he cofounded two years ago.
In a decision published on Wednesday, aesthetic medicine practitioner Dr Paul Coughlan was awarded the sum by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on foot of statutory complaints against CPD Ventures Ltd, trading as Yung Medical Aesthetics under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 and the Employment Equality Act 1998.
Neil Brehony of Ormonde Solicitors, who appeared for Dr Coughlan, submitted that his client agreed as part of a December 2023 founder agreement for the respondent company to leave a senior post in the public health system and work for the firm as an employee.
Mr Brehony told the WRC that during his client’s involvement with the company, “disputes” arose regarding its management, the control of a social media account, and commission payments to his client.
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Mr Brehony submitted his client was entitled to commission equivalent to a 30% split of revenue on procedures he had carried out personally – €117,208 of the €390,696 in revenue generated by the firm.
Dr Coughlan only received €30,600 before June 2024, leaving €86,608 “outstanding”, Mr Brehony said.
He went absent on certified sick leave in August last year due to “stress and depression”, the tribunal heard.
The tribunal heard that Dr Coughlan was also removed as a company director and subjected to a threat of legal action in relation to one of his own Instagram accounts.
Dr Coughlan later resigned on the basis of alleged constructive dismissal, citing the failure to pay the commission and other matters.
Adjudication officer Gaye Cunningham noted in her decision that the company was “in liquidation” when the case came before her in July. A representative of the liquidator, Chelsea Gough, was in attendance, but “no evidence was proffered”, Ms Cunningham said.
Ms Cunningham upheld Dr Coughlan’s payment of wages claim and ordered the company to pay him €86,608 for “loss of earnings”.
Addressing the equality claim, she wrote: “Not only did the respondent fail to engage with the complainant, it actually threatened him regarding his ‘fiduciary duties’ and removed him from his position as a director,” she wrote.
“It is uncontested that the complainant suffered from stress and depression. This condition arose because of the respondent’s failure to pay him in comparison to payments [to] contractors,” she wrote.
She found Dr Coughlan had been denied reasonable accommodation for this condition and that he had been discriminated against on disability grounds in breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998.
She awarded him a further €5,000 for the breach.
