Workers left in limbo following collapse of David Collard’s empire

David Collard’s company still denies its US-based staff have not been paid for months, despite the cash-strapped entrepreneur conceding his Australian workers are owed millions.

David Collard at Manhattan Supreme court in New York City. Picture: Jefferson Siegel

Australian entrepreneur David Collard’s company continues to deny its US-based staff have not been paid for months, despite the cash-strapped businessman finally conceding that his Australian employees are owed millions of dollars.

Lawyers for Mr Collard’s company Scale Facilitation have responded to a class action brought by dozens of unpaid staff in New York by claiming that the plaintiffs had been “fully compensated for all hours worked”.

David Collard at New York Criminal Court. Picture: Jefferson Siegel

But this masthead revealed last year that staff said they experienced pay problems from April, leaving some tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket and forcing Australians who had moved to the US to work for Mr Collard’s company to return home.

Boyd Law Group founder Patrick Boyd, who is representing Scale’s employees in the class action, criticised Scale for failing to even provide pay slips and tax forms to its staff.

“They have had challenges in just collecting unemployment and filing their tax returns,” he said.

Last week, the liquidator appointed to handle the collapse of Mr Collard’s Australian-based business SaniteX confirmed 68 workers were owed $4.1m in unpaid wages and superannuation.

David Collard appears in New York Criminal Court alongside his Legal Aid lawyer Allyssa Myers. Picture: Jefferson Siegel

Mr Collard, in a report he filed as SaniteX’s director, acknowledged local staff were owed at least $2.2m.

And in a statement in which he broke his silence about the saga, he acknowledged that he was working to find “a solution to settle their dues” before SaniteX was wound up by the Victorian Supreme Court in November.

Mr Collard still has not been served in the New York class action, which has been filed in the US District Court in New York’s Southern District, leaving the law firm representing Scale to respond.

“Any acts or omissions by defendant with respect to the payment of wages were undertaken in good faith reliance on the regulations and interpretations of the Wage and Hour Administration of the United States Department of Labor and/or legal advice or opinions from outside counsel,” Norton Rose Fulbright partner Mark Robertson said.

David Collard exploring Geelong by chopper Picture: Supplied

But Mr Boyd said there was “abundant evidence” that Scale’s employees were not paid.

In a message to staff last year, when payment problems first began, Mr Collard said: “If there are any financial impacts on you because of the delay, I will of course make those whole.”

The New York Department of Labor is also investigating after complaints from workers.

Last week, Scale’s lawyers agreed to provide personnel files and tax forms for the class action’s three named plaintiffs, but not for any other workers who are part of the case.

Counsel for both sides agreed to consider mediation, with a jury trial otherwise slated to begin in October.