In a ground-breaking ruling, the supreme court in France awarded three contestants on the French version of the programme Temptation Island compensation of about €11,000 (£9,500) each. The judges ruled that the trio were entitled to full employment contracts — including overtime, holidays and even damages for wrongful dismissal upon elimination from the show.
The judgment is likely to presage a flood of claims by participants in other programmes, such as the French versions of Big Brother and Britain’s Got Talent. Television executives say the decision, which settles three years of legal wrangling, will add significantly to the cost of producing reality television in France.
The case was brought by Anthony Brocheton, Marie Adamiak and Arno Laize, who said that their participation in l’Ile de la Tentation amounted to a job in terms of French labour laws, which stipulate that no one can be made to work more than 35 hours a week. The programme involves scantily clad men and women testing the faithfulness of competing couples with massages, dances and beach walks on an island off Tulum on the Mexican coast.
Giving judgment, la Cour de Cassation, France’s highest court, said: “Temptation Island constitutes a job and therefore justifies an employment contract.” It backed a decision by a lower tribunal to award the three contestants €8,176 each in overtime, on the grounds that they had worked for 24 hours a day.
Glem, the French group that makes Temptation Island for the private TF1 channel, was also ordered to pay the contestants €817 for not being given a holiday, €500 for unfair dismissal and €1,500 for the wrongful termination of their contracts. Lawyers said Glem is likely to be ordered to pay the claimants’ legal fees as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment