Courts / Ireland / Report

Metropolitan Films to appeal €430k worth of workplace rights decisions

Summary

Metropolitan Films International Ltd, along with applicants Catherine Byrne and Liz Murray, has served notice of appeal to the Labour Court regarding Workplace Relations Commission decisions awarding 23 Irish Film Workers' Association members a combined €430,000 in back pay and compensation. The WRC found that the company, founded by the late James Flynn, breached multiple employment rights. In 13 cases, Adjudication Officer Catherine Byrne ordered Metropolitan Films to pay €5,000 each for failing to provide written statements under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003. Ten workers were additionally awarded €25,000 each for penalisation by dismissal for asserting their entitlement to fixed-term contracts. Most cases included four weeks' pay for breaching the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994. The highest awards, exceeding €38,000 each, were secured by plasterers Fran and Frank Matthews. The company's representatives had denied direct employment, claiming workers were hired via designated activity companies, but Ms Byrne accepted sworn evidence that contract signatures were forged, describing the arrangement as a contrivance. IFWA organiser Liz Murray questioned the company's moral right to appeal. Metropolitan Films stated it does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. No grounds of appeal have yet been set out, and the matter remains at the hearing or decision stage pending the Labour Court's review.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Metropolitan Films to appeal €430k worth of workplace rights decisions. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• July 2023 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2022 and 2023 Other
• Christmas Other
• 2024-02-02 Publication

Why: "I accept now that this was not the case because at the hearing of the complaints under consideration here, the uncontradicted evidence was that the respondent produced no films in 2019 until The Last Duel went into production in November that year," Ms Byrne wrote. CNI source report

Case subjects

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report