Posted on 06/04/2009 10:17:25 PM PDT by Schnucki
Lawyers have warned of the end of reality TV in France after contestants on such shows won the right to be treated - and paid - as salaried workers.
The ruling came after the supreme court ruled that three contestants on the French version of 'Temptation Island' were entitled to full employment contracts.
That included overtime, holidays, and even damages for wrongful dismissal should a contestant be eliminated from the show.
Now lawyers in France - bracing themselves for a flood of new suits from contestants on other reality shows - have warned that the ground-breaking decision will spell the end of reality TV.
And television executives have complained that the ruling will significantly increase the cost of producing such shows in France.
Damien Celice, a lawyer for TF1, had warned the supreme court during the hearing that 'there would be no more reality TV in France' if the contestants were given work contracts, the Times reported.
Seventy four contestants on other French reality television shows have already followed suit - and look likely to win.
Temptation Island contestants Anthony Brocheton, Marie Adamiak and Arno Laize brought the historic suit to court, claiming their stint on the French version of the show amounted to a job under French labour laws.
The show tests the faithfulness of couples as they are placed on an island off the coast of Mexico complete with every comfort - massages, dances, beach walks, and of course, temptation itself: scantily-clad men and women whose sole goal is to break the couples up.
The three contestants were awarded £9,500 in compensation each.
They argued they had worked 24 hours a day. French labour laws dictate a 35-hour working week - so the court ruled they should be paid £7,076 in overtime.
They were also paid £707 for
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Please do not give the rats and their trial lawyer allies any ideas. The rats cannot be out Frenched. The rats will demand collective bargaining, racial quotas, illegal alien accessibility, and multi-lingual translation services.
Wrongful dismissal ???
What ??? Do they sue when they are voted off ???
Sheeesh !!!
Excellent - get rid of them all.
Sorry. I like watching shows where the “actors” involved aren’t overpaid prima donnas.
Too bad they weren’t elminated from the island with the help of laser beams.
We should be so lucky. Something happened to TV beginning with the Clinton era, and its been getting worse all the time. I refuse to get caught up in watching reality TV, which is nothing more than an outlet for people to watch bigger losers than themselves. And its about as far from reality as you can get. How real is it when there are five camera angles, with sound booms and lighting just off camera?
Give me the days when we only had six channels, and a whole lot more good programming to watch.
LOL, too funny.
Told ya.
And television executives have complained that the ruling will significantly increase the cost of producing such shows in France.Hmmmm.... let's brainstorm this one.
Maybe if we THINK REAL HARD we can come up with a solution to this one.
thinking...
thinking...
thinking...
Got it!
How about:
DON'T PRODUCE ANY SUCH SHOWS IN FRANCE!!!
These contestants may have a future in the Obama administration. They certainly have O’s view regarding the relevance of the contracts they signed to be on the show.
But TV executives tried to downplay that statement, with Edouard Boccon-Gibod, the chairman of TF1 Production, saying: 'I cannot bring myself to accept the idea that participating in a television programme is a professional activity.'
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