Model claims payments denied

Press, 26 December 1984, Page 4

Model claims payments denied

NZJN Tokyo A New Zealand model says she was denied payment of an $BOOO contract guarantee by a Japanese modelling agency that used her to advertise Japanese products for two months. Simone Curtice, of Auckland, was hired by the Era Fashion International Inc. agency of Osaka in September on a two-month contract. She was introduced to Era by a Sydney modelling agency. Management staff of the Era agency in both Tokyo and Osaka have refused to comment. Soon after Ms Curtice arrived in Japan, she said it became obvious that the actual conditions of employment differed from those in the Era contract she signed in Sydney. “A lot of girls who came to work for this agency in Japan have gone home with nothing.” she said. . “I thought that not being able to speak the language and being female, they took advantage of me. “The Japanese are aware that we just have no idea of how different they are from the Western world.

, 4 “And when they know V there is something you don’t ' understand then they can take advantage of you and

they do. “I fefe that they did it to me. When I confronted them with the problem, they just

said, ‘This is Japan.’ ” The Era contract that Ms Curtice signed said that Era would “pay to ‘B’ (the model) a minimum gross guarantee of SUS4OOO (about $8000) for the period of 60 days.” This guarantee was to be paid in addition to payments from modelling clients, but the contract did not say when it would be paid. Era was to deduct about $ll6O from the guarantee as a charge for rent and utilities, as Ms Curtice was living with other models in an apartment supplied by Era. This should have left her with a guarantee of about $6840. “In the end they paid me 100,000 yen ($830) to get out. That covered my air fare from Sydney to Auckland,” she said. Before she received this, the agency asked Ms Curtice to sign a document saying she would not attempt to seek the rest of the guarantee.

A Canadian model forking with Ms Curtice at the Era agency was also denied

her promised guarantee money. “I was fighting a losing battle. I didn’t give up, but fighting didn’t get me anywhere,” Ms Curtice said. “When I argued with them they turned against me. “There was nothing I could have done unless I paid $3OOO to a lawyer. It would have cost that much.” During the two months, Ms Curtice appeared on Japanese television advertising high-fashion garments, modelled at an exhibition for Asahi Pentax cameras, did several fashion shows at prestigious Japanese department stores, and advertised Japanese cosmetics. Era withheld 40 per cent of the payment for these jobs as agency fees. Ms Curtice said she had no control over the agency’s commercial use of the many photographs they took of her. “That is the way it works in Japan. It was a good work experience, but I worked for two months for practically nothing. It was very disappointing.” —Copyright