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Contracts

Q: Verbal agreements

I provided the sound for a show but was dismissed before the end of the tour. Although I was not sacked for any shortcoming on my part, I only had a verbal agreement, so do I have any redress?

A: Quite possibly you do. A verbal agreement is legally every bit as effective as a written one, the main difference being that the existence and precise terms of a verbal agreement are more difficult to prove as a matter of evidence than an agreement in writing where the relevant documentation can be produced. Indeed, not all the terms need to have been agreed verbally or in writing. It is quite possible in law for an agreement to be made partly in writing, partly orally and partly by the conduct of one or both parties.

It is not clear whether you were employed by the producer or engaged by him as a self-employed independent contractor. I suspect it was probably the latter but if, in fact, you were an employee, you could make a statutory claim for compensation for unfair dismissal provided that you were employed for a minimum of one year or more. Whatever the nature of your contract, whether as an employee or an independent contractor, your contractual rights will depend very much on the terms of the contract. If, for example, you were engaged for the duration of the tour, then any earlier dismissal would obviously be a breach of contract. If, on the other hand, you were engaged on a piece work basis, for example if there were a series of separate contracts of engagement for each venue on the tour, without commitment in respect of subsequent venues, then failure to extend your engagement to future venues before the end of the tour would not be a breach.

To be able to advise definitively I would need to know much more about the circumstances than you have stated in your question but your use of the word 'so' indicates that your main concern is the absence of any written agreement and that aspect I have already covered.

If you have done at least some of the work which the producer used, then clearly the existence of an agreement of some kind can hardly be in doubt, although the precise terms of it will be a matter of evidence.

If you are able to establish breach of a verbal agreement by the other party to that agreement, the nature of your redress will be damages for breach of contract, comprising whatever financial loss you can prove that you sustained as a result of your early dismissal. This will probably comprise your loss of profit from not being allowed to finish the work but you are under a legal duty to mitigate your loss by taking reasonable steps to find other work during the remaining period of the contract and giving credit for your profit on that other work against your claim for damages.

You do not give the reason for your dismissal except that it was not for any shortcomings on your part. If it was due to cancellation of the tour for reasons beyond the control of the producer, the theatre being destroyed by fire or the cast being incapacitated due to food poisoning for example, then further performance of the producer's contractual obligations to you would be 'frustrated' by becoming impossible of performance due to circumstances beyond his control, so as to relieve him from any further liability to you. You can see, therefore, why I need to know much more about the circumstances before being able to advise you definitively.

First published February 2003