WRC declines to hear unfair dismissal complaint against World 2000

The Workplace Relations Commission declined to hear John Purdy’s unfair dismissal complaint against World 2000 Entertainment Limited after finding that the wrong employer had been named. The decision was dated 20 February 2024, and the merits were not decided. Purdy’s union argued that World 2000 was his employer, citing agreements on pay and working conditions and correspondence involving the company. World 2000 said he had worked for separate production companies, most recently VK Six TV Productions DAC. The adjudicator found that Metropolitan Films International Limited was his employer, but concluded that World 2000 could not be replaced as the respondent in this case. The complaint was within the statutory time limit, but the WRC said it had no jurisdiction to proceed against the named respondent. It did not decide whether Purdy was unfairly dismissed after he was not recalled to work in 2019.