Singer wins payout after music company left him pleading for dinner money

An American singer has won a £20,000 payout after a Bristol-based independent music company failed to pay his wages and left him pleading for dinner money.

Musician Troi Irons was flown over from his native Los Angeles to the UK in 2023 and was told to “work with a handshake instead of a contract”, an employment tribunal was told.

The singer-songwriter said Dean Roberts, chief executive of 3Tone Music, had agreed to pay him £30,000 a year to work as an artist and musical engineer, according to a written tribunal decision.

The musician, who had not been paid his wages, sent Mr Roberts a message asking for “money for dinner” while Mr Roberts partied at Glastonbury , the tribunal heard.

Mr Irons, who has performed in Los Angeles, New York , London, and Bristol , was provided with a flat by the company until he was evicted when they failed to pay the rent.

Mr Roberts argued no contractual terms were ever agreed and said the musician had never done any work for him.

But the tribunal concluded that the company’s “degree of control” had made it “the master” of Mr Irons.

The singer arrived in the UK on January 15 2023, and was told by 3Tone that a long-term visa for him would be arranged, a Southampton employment tribunal heard.

When the company finally applied for a creative worker visa in April 2023, the sponsorship certificate said he would be working as a “musician/producer” for an established UK label, the tribunal was told.

Chief executive Mr Roberts held complete “financial control” over Mr Irons while he was in the UK, the tribunal heard.

In June 2023, Mr Roberts was at Glastonbury and Mr Irons sent him a WhatsApp message to remind him money should be transferred to him.

Mr Roberts replied that his signal was “pretty non-existent” and he would get something over to him that day, the tribunal was told.

The musician had to send him a follow-up message saying: “Please I don’t have money for dinner”.

3Tone provided a flat for the singer when he came to the UK, but he was evicted from it in November 2023 because the company had not paid the rent, the tribunal was told.

Mr Irons was also unaware that he could take holiday while with the company, the tribunal heard, so he did not take any.

The tribunal concluded that Mr Irons had been an employee of the company, and should have been paid his wage.

He was awarded £13,691 in respect of unpaid wages, £2,692 for accrued but untaken holiday and £4,331 for a further work agreement.