In a ground-breaking case an agent who has repeatedly engaged performers for roles and then refused to pay them has been prosecuted by the government’s Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI) thanks to Equity members supported by their union.

Les Hemmings, of Solihull-based Hemmings Leisure Limited, will be familiar to regular readers of the Equity magazine as an agent who has been the subject of numerous cases taken on behalf of Equity members in recent years (see A History of Betrayals – below) and as an agent who regularly features in this magazine’s Special Attention list.

With numerous cases outstanding and faced by Hemmings’ continued refusal to pay debts even after court decisions, Equity advised two members to take a different route and to use powers of the recently established EASI to pursue the agent for payments for work they completed on his behalf. Amongst those making claims were comedian Tom O’Connor – who was booked by Hemmings to perform at a corporate awards dinner – and Terry McGrath of the Eureka New Orleans Marching Jazz Band. Equity had already taken Hemmings through County Court hearings that found in favour of our members, but was frustrated by unsuccessful attempts to enforce the court’s judgments.

By enlisting EASI to pursue Hemmings in these cases, Equity members were able to take their cases to the magistrates’ court. Despite the change of arena, the findings were the same. District Judge Nigel Cadbury said Hemmings was guilty of “serious, deceitful, despicable behaviour and not the behaviour of an ordinary decent businessman.” The court presented Hemmings with a total bill of £7,500, including £2,000 in court costs, £3,500 in unpaid fees and a further fine of £2,000.

Pat McFadden, Minister for Employment Relations, welcomed the court’s findings. “Cheating comedians and exploiting entertainers is no laughing matter. They have employment rights too and we will stick up for them. I am pleased to see that the individual responsible has been brought to justice for what is a clear breach of the law.”

But, while Equity organiser Tim Johnson who advised the memberd involved and has been pursuing Hemmings on behalf of performers for many years, was pleased with the outcome of the EASI court case, he expressed some disappointment that the court did not impose the maximum penalties at its disposal.

“The court could have fined Hemmings up to £5,000, which, considering the misery and concern he has caused many entertainers, would have been more than justified,” Tim said. “But more importantly the court failed to take its opportunity to prevent Hemmings from working as an agent for up to ten years. I believe that the history of Hemmings’ failure to pay County Court judgments and his repeated failure to pay our members would have justified the harshest of punishments.”

Tom O’Connor, however, was pleased that using EASI had resulted in a judgment in his favour. “I am delighted that this dispute has been resolved. I hope that this acts as a warning to any other promoters who are tempted to hold on to artists’ fees.”

But Tim Johnson stressed that Equity was not yet finished with Les Hemmings and his company. “We will be watching to make sure that our members get the money the court has said they should be paid and we would warn other members to think very seriously before accepting work from Hemmings or his company.”