A Kelowna landscaper who claimed he never “officially” hired his friend has been ordered to pay him $11,000 in unpaid wages.

According to an April 23 BC Employment Standards Tribunal decision, Derek Mitchell, who owned Unity Earth Works, claimed his employee was just part of a “friend group” working together and was never officially hired.

“Most of the time we had way too many guys on site, so we would rarely work full-time weeks as there was just not enough work to do for all of us 5 days a week, 8 hours,” Mitchell said in the decision.

Mitchell claimed his employee, Jay Carter, had his own landscaping business and was “happy to assist him” and even gave him money to register his business.

The decision said Carter worked for Unity Earth Works from June to October 2023, and in an earlier ruling, the Employment Standards Tribunal found he was owed $11,313 for wages, overtime, statutory holiday pay, annual vacation pay and compensation for length of service.

Mitchell appealed the ruling, but his arguments didn’t get far.

He argued his friend was “not credible” and was “dishonest,” although he provided no evidence to back this up.

“I think (the employee) has performed time theft and wage theft with incorrect hours stated and not discussing the full story,” the decision reads. “(The employee) would work and be paid, then once let go there was randomly money being missed to him seems very odd to me. As for the entire time he was working with me he would never do such a thing to this extent.”

It’s unclear if Unity Earth Works is still in business, but numerous people have filed in the small claims court, arguing the company owes them money.

Mitchell argued that new evidence was now available, and he shouldn’t have been found liable.

However, the Tribunal didn’t agree.

“(Mitchell) is generally resubmitting arguments made during the initial investigation and adjudication stage and does not submit cogent evidence nor any explanation why the… evidence could not have been discovered or presented during the investigation,” the Tribunal said.

Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal and ordered Mitchell to pay $11,313 to his former employee.