One of Liverpool's longest-established architecture firms has been ordered to pay more than #37,000 to a woman who worked for nine months without salary.
An employment tribunal heard that Ann Spencer did not draw her wages during a period in which the future of the firm Bradshaw Rowse Harker was in jeopardy.
BRH Architects traces its history back to 1918 when it was founded by Herbert Rowse, who designed many famous buildings, including the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
The firm has worked on a number of high-profile projects in the including government contracts and major shopping centre developments.
However, an employment tribunal heard that "brh Architects" suffered financial difficulties as a result of the recession and a slump in the construction industry.
One of its partners even said he was ready to "pull the plug" on the firm last summer.
The tribunal in Liverpool heard that Mrs Ann Spencer, of Chilcott Road, Knotty Ash, had worked for the firm, at its offices in Rumford Place for fifteen years.
Blonde-haired Mrs Spencer was not paid for a period during which her employers claimed she had agreed to defer taking her salary in order to help the firm weather the storm.
Mrs Spencer received no pay from December 2009 to October 2010 while the partners John Hall and David Brigden continued to receive income, despite losing contracts worth more than #250,000.
Mrs Spencer said that when she asked about the failure to pay her wages her complaints were ignored by the two partners.
She said she felt aggrieved that her own position was not properly considered before receiving a redundancy notice on 4th October 2010.
In as statement to the tribunal, Mrs Spencer said: "I am very disappointed by the way I have been treated by the business.
"There were still several projects going with the possibility of money coming in.
"This money, and other jobs coming in at that time, made it so that I did not see the possibility of redundancy coming."
Mrs Spencer told the hearing: "I remember saying on several occasions I was not there to pay their loans."
Trainee solicitor Heather Maitland, told the panel "My client feels this was not a proper way to end 15 years of service to the business.
"I don't believe anyone would let someone work for free without a proper agreement.
"We believe there could have been a more proper and fairer process."
David Brigden argued against the action, claiming informal agreements had been made in respect of the company's financial difficulties.
He said: "At stages I was concerned we were not going to survive until April. In the summer I was ready to pull the plug.
"It is fair to say I was very pessimistic about the business, and Ann was very bullish and positive.
"We were all living in hope. We tried to deal with each month as it came, and Ann was working purely on her own volition.
"She gave us only hope and encouragement. I did suggest that she could take a part-time job, but Ann made it clear that the only way she could leave was if we made her redundant.
"We should have bit the bullet and said that she was.
"Our support for her has never come into question, and we regret having to end-up in this position."
John Hall added: "We were naïve, and perhaps we should have taken action sooner.
"We have tried to do the right thing, but we have been hampered by the lack of payments into the business."
Mrs Spencer's unfair dismissal claim was rejected but the tribunal awarded her #37,333 in unpaid salary, holiday pay and a redundancy payment.
Employment Judge Vincent Ryan told BRH architects: "The claimant's arguments as to payments are well founded and successful.
"She expected that she would be paid her work when the money became available, and there is convincing evidence that she was not working on a contingency basis.
"Although it sounds a lot to pay in this difficult financial situation, you have not been penalised in any way, you are just paying the claimant what she is already owed."
Both parties declined to comment after the hearing.
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