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A Kamloops petting zoo is on the hook for $1,500 after it was found to have not paid a student for a week's worth of web design.

According to a June 20 Employment Standards Tribunal decision, the Little Farmers’ Petting Zoo Society was ordered to pay Nash Domenichelli $1,023 in unpaid wages and vacation pay and issued a $500 fine for not paying him in the first place.

The Petting Zoo appealed the decision saying it had never hired Domenichelli in the first place and the original Tribunal had made multiple errors.

The decision said in the summer of 2022 the Little Farmers’ Petting Zoo Society executive director Dennis Threatful interviewed Domenichelli for an upcoming eight-week placement.

Threatful asked Domenichelli to make a sample demo of the Zoo’s website as part of the hiring process. It took four hours to make the video and he uploaded it to a third-party site.

The decision said a few days later Threatful called and offered him the job.

"(Threatful) reiterated to Mr. Domenichelli that he could not be hired unless he proved that he had the required skills," the decision read.

His $21.60 an hour job was to make a main website for the zoo.

Both parties contest whether this happened or not.

"A fundamental question in this case is whether Mr. Domenichelli is performing work for the Society?" the Tribunal said.

Domenichelli provided a link to the website showing a list of the work he performed while working for the Petting Zoo.

"This website is accessible, and the (Tribunal) was able to visit it and click on items and see each item showing several pages of computer code. Some of the titles of these items include 'drag or drop file,' 'animal navigation back and forward,' 'production build' and 'animals page showing all pictures as thumbnails,'" the decision read.

The Petting Zoo said Domenichelli failed to produce the work that was expected of him and didn't do what was asked.

However, The Tribunal ruled that just because the Petting Zoo wasn't happy with what Domenichelli produced doesn't mean Domenichelli wasn't working.

"I understand Mr. Threatful’s argument that the work was not satisfactory and that he was not able to use the (Domenichelli) work on the (Zoo's) website," the Tribunal noted. "However, it qualifies as work performed for an employer and is compensable."

The Tribunal ruled that if someone produces something for the benefit of an employer even if while being evaluated for a job they must be paid.

Threatful accused Domenichelli of "fraud and time theft" but the Tribunal dismissed the argument.

The Petting Zoo said in its appeal it had new evidence and it had been denied "natural justice."

However, the Tribunal ruled it was just rehashing the same arguments from its first hearing because it didn't like that it had lost.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered the Petting Zoo to pay Domenichelli $1,023, along with a $500 fine.

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