Current:Home > MyAppeals court rejects Broadway producer’s antitrust claim against actors’ and stage managers’ union -×
Appeals court rejects Broadway producer’s antitrust claim against actors’ and stage managers’ union
View
Date:2025-04-13 22:55:41
NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a Tony Award-winning producer who claims that a union for actors and stage managers organized an illegal boycott that prevented him from producing live Broadway shows.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the producer, Garth Drabinsky, could not continue with his $50 million lawsuit alleging that the Actors’ Equity Association violated antitrust and various state laws, including defamation.
The union represents over 50,000 theater actors and stage managers.
Luke Hasskamp, a lawyer for Drabinsky, declined to comment.
Drabinsky, 74, whose hits include “Ragtime” and a 1994 revival of “Show Boat,” claimed in his lawsuit that the union engaged in an unlawful campaign of defamation and harassment by spreading rumors about him, instituting a one-day work stoppage and putting him on its Do Not Work list to discourage anyone from working with him.
“So long as the union’s conduct promotes legitimate labor goals, it retains the benefit of the labor exemption and remains impervious to antitrust liability,” the three-judge 2nd Circuit panel said in a decision written by Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr.
The court said Equity engaged in the boycott “precisely to protect its members’ wages and working conditions” after cast members of the musical “Paradise Square” objected to unsafe conditions on set, a racially hostile work environment and unpaid wages. It noted that Drabinsky claimed he lacked control over wages and working conditions, although his lawsuit alleged he controlled hiring, firing and pay during the production.
Al Vincent Jr., executive director of the Actors’ Equity Association, said the union was “glad the court agreed with every single argument that we made and concluded that Drabinsky’s lawsuit was meritless.”
He said the ruling “will serve Equity and the labor movement well in the future with respect to the right to use the Do Not Work list against employers that harm our members.”
“We are happy to put this behind us,” Vincent added. “Our mission is to protect actors and stage managers from employers like Drabinsky, and no amount of intimidation will deter us.”
“Paradise Square,” which explored racial conflict between Black Americans and Irish immigrants amid the 1863 Civil War race riots in New York City, closed on Broadway in July 2022 after 23 previews and 108 performances. Drabinsky’s “Ragtime” ran for two years on Broadway.
Drabinsky, a Canadian, was sentenced in August 2009 to seven years in prison in that country for fraud convictions by a judge who said he and another producer submitted false financial statements to investors to misrepresent their company’s financial condition.
veryGood! (38)
Related
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Remains found in Arizona desert in 1992 identified as missing girl; police investigate possible link to serial killer
- The Excerpt podcast: Rosalynn Carter dies at 96, sticking points in hostage negotiations
- Hiker found dead on trail in Grand Canyon, second such fatality in 2 months
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Key Fed official sees possible ‘golden path’ toward lower inflation without a recession
- Zach Edey, Braden Smith lead Purdue men's basketball to Maui Invitational win over Gonzaga
- 'Most sought-after Scotch whisky' sells for record $2.7M at London auction
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Close friends can help you live longer but they can spread some bad habits too
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- A man is charged with threatening a Palestinian rights group as tensions rise from Israel-Hamas war
- New York lawmaker accused of rape in lawsuit filed under state’s expiring Adult Survivors Act
- One of the year's brightest meteor showers is underway: How to watch the Geminids
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- Below Deck Mediterranean Shocker: Stew Natalya Scudder Exits Season 8 Early
- Steven Van Zandt remembers 'Sopranos' boss James Gandolfini, talks Bruce Springsteen
- Israel battles Hamas near another Gaza hospital sheltering thousands
Recommendation
Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
Ukrainians who fled their country for Israel find themselves yet again living with war
After trying to buck trend, newspaper founded with Ralph Nader’s succumbs to financial woes
Old video games are new again on Atari 2600+ retro-gaming console
Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
When and where to watch the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, plus who's performing
Where is Thanksgiving most expensive? Residents in these US cities expect to pay more
Judge bars media cameras in University of Idaho slayings case, but the court will livestream