The Workplace Relations Commission found Metropolitan Films International Limited had penalised film worker Dean Arkins by dismissing him after he sought permanent employment. The WRC awarded him €25,000 for the dismissal and €5,000 for related breaches involving fixed-term contracts, in a decision dated 15 December 2023.
Arkins worked intermittently as a stagehand on film productions. He said he was not called back when production resumed and believed this was connected to his union membership. The company argued that separate production subsidiaries employed him and that his complaint was late. The adjudication officer found the subsidiaries were part of the same group, treated the gap in work as a lay-off and found the complaint was within time.
The officer found that Arkins had acquired a contract of indefinite duration after more than four years on fixed-term contracts. In plain terms, his employment could not lawfully be treated as a succession of temporary engagements without objective grounds. The officer found there were no such grounds and that the company had failed to give written reasons for the specified-purpose contracts. The €5,000 award covered those breaches. The awards were not subject to deductions for tax, PRSI or USC.