The Workplace Relations Commission found that Metropolitan Films International Limited penalised Martin Grey by dismissing him after he sought permanent employment, and ordered the company to pay him €25,000. In a decision dated 15 December 2023, adjudication officer Catherine Byrne also awarded €5,000 for breaches involving fixed-term contracts and €5,979.20 for a deficient statement of employment terms.
Grey, a stagehand and labourer, said he had worked intermittently on film productions for years and was not called back when production resumed. He believed his union membership was the reason. The company argued that separate production companies had employed him and that his complaints were late. Byrne found Metropolitan Films International Limited was his employer and that the complaints were within the time limit.
The officer found that the company breached fixed-term work protections by penalising Grey in connection with his dismissal after he sought permanent employment. She also found that successive fixed-term contracts lacked objective reasons and that his employment statement gave incorrect employer details and start date. His Payment of Wages complaint was not well founded because wages were not payable during an agreed lay-off when no work was available. A separate working-time complaint was withdrawn.