A federal judge rejected WME¡¯s request for a preliminary injunction, which would end WGA¡¯s resistance to the agency until the antitrust case can be heard. This is a major legal victory for the guild. Like all other major talent agencies, pressure should be put on WME to resolve long-standing disputes and sign the WGA franchise agreement.
U.S. District Court Judge Andr¨¦ Birotte Jr. said in Wednesday¡¯s ruling that he rejected WME¡¯s request because ¡°the court does not have the power to issue an injunction because this matter involves the Norris-LaGuardia Labor disputes as defined by the Act.¡± According to the Norris-LaGuardia Act, ¡°unless there is a strict compliance with the requirements of the Act, no court has the power to issue any injunctions on cases involving or arising from labor disputes.
The judge ruled: ¡°In short, the court has no jurisdiction to issue an injunction because the NLGA prohibits issuing an injunction. Since injunction relief is excluded, the court does not need to study the merits of the (WME) FCC or other strict requirements for issuing a preliminary injunction.¡±
At the hearing on December 18, the judge urged the guild and the agency to resolve the 20-month dispute and said: “Come on, guys. Get together. Get this done.”
Then WME made a new proposal to the guild, which rejected the proposal yesterday. WME said earlier today that it still hopes to reach an agreement with the guild.
Post time: Jan-05-2021
