Judge Denies WME & CAA’s Motion To Dismiss Remainder Of WGA’s Packaging Fees Lawsuit

A federal judge has denied WME’s and CAA’s motions to dismiss the remainder of the WGA’s fraud and price-fixing allegations, sending the case to trial to determine whether agency packaging fees are legal.

In his 17-page ruling today (read it here), U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. denied the agencies’ motions to dismiss the WGA’s claims for breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud, violation of California’s Cartwright Act, and violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. The judge also denied the agencies’ motion to dismiss the WGA’s representative claim for constructive fraud and claims filed by individual guild members for constructive fraud.

The WGA East and West first sued the agencies in April 2019, but on April 27, 2020, the court granted the agencies’ motions to dismiss large portions of the WGA East and West’s case, including their claims for federal price-fixing, violation of the Corrupt Organization Act, federal and state group boycott, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud, individual members’ claims of constructive fraud and Unfair Competition Law claims brought by the guilds.

At that time, however, the judge let stand the guild’s price-fixing claims under California’s Cartwright Act, the Individual Counterclaimants’ claim for breach of fiduciary duty, the Individual Counterclaimants’ claim under California’s Unfair Competition Law, the guild’s claim for declaratory relief and writer Barbara Hall’s claim for breach of contract and promissory estoppel. UTA, which originally was a party to the lawsuits, has since reached a deal with the guilds and has been dropped from the case.

The agencies then sought to dismiss those remaining claims, which the judge has now denied, sending the case to trial next March.