'Whistleblower' alleges too much grass at the Golf Channel

By Eriq Gardner

Maybe this lawsuit explains why the Golf Channel likes to replay "Caddyshack" over and over again.

Greg Kochis, a freelance videographer, is claiming protection as a "whistleblower" and suing the Golf Channel and NEP Broadcasting for firing him after he reported drug use by his co-workers at the cable TV network. In a complaint filed in the court of common pleas in Ohio, Kochis says there's, well, way too much grass in golf. He claims the crew would regularly smoke marijuana on the golf course during the taping and production of live golf events.

Roger Corman family feud spills into court

By Eriq Gardner

In his legendary 50-year career, Roger Corman produced nearly 400 low-budget films, including "Death Star 2000" and "Battle Beyond the Stars." He also tutored the likes of James Cameron, Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola and a host of others.
 
But Corman is now caught up in a squabble with his children, who claim they were unfairly fired from the family production business after raising questions about the family trust.

The Corman children are now suing their father and his companies for employment discrimination. 

In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the children say they were terminated after requesting an accounting of trust assets. In response to the requests, the kids allege that Roger's wife, Julie, declared that the assets of the family trust were hers, and made concealed attempted to move the trusts to other states and even offshore so as to gain greater control. One of Roger's sons said he spoke out about transactions he perceived as potentially being unlawful and having serious tax ramifications. Julie allegedly threatened to leave Roger if he ever discussed finances with his children without her present.

On October 13, the children say they each received e-mails informing them they would no longer be working at Corman's New Horizons Picture Corp., which has lately taken steps to become The New Education Foundation.

Roger Corman, now 83, received an honorary lifetime Oscar last month for his achievements.

Christian publishers battle over 'God's Little Princess'

By Eriq Gardner

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he reportedly told his followers, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods."

If only Moses could have lived to see a new lawsuit filed in Tennessee district court by Christian publisher Thomas Nelson Inc. against another Christian publisher Zondervan Corp.

Both companies publish Biblical-themed children books and release related products like DVDs, dolls, toys and apparel. According to the complaint, Thomas Nelson hired an illustrator named Meredith Johnson under a work-for-hire agreement to provide illustrations for a successful series entitled "Gigi, God's Little Princess." 

Thomas Nelson alleges that Johnson was not satisfied with her compensation under the agreement and negotiated with Zondervan to illustrate a new series entitled "The Princess Twins." The illustrations were substantially similar, says Thomas Nelson, and as a result, Johnson breached her contract and Zondervan committed intentional interference, copyright and trademark infringement, and unfairly competed in the marketplace.

We're hoping this holy war is resolved before anyone violates other Commandments.

Jon Gosselin countersues TLC for $5 million

By Eriq Gardner

Jon Gosselin is fighting back against TLC, accusing the network of breaking child labor laws and countersuing for $5 million.

A month ago, the reality TV star was sued for breaching the exclusivity and morals portions of his contract. 

Gosselin has answered the charges by filing court papers arguing that the contract he signed for his family was illegal and thus, unenforceable. Specifically, Gosselin argues that the contract "failed to provide payments to (his) eight children and included terms and conditions requiring the children to provide services which are currently being investigated by the State of Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry, pursuant to the Child Labor Law."

We've discussed some of the labor issues involved in reality TV, including the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" child labor investigation, so it'll be interesting to see if the vagaries of state labor laws can nullify a contract.

Gosselin also argues that the contract he signed was unconscionable because neither he nor his wife were represented by an attorney nor manager when they entered into the agreement. Few reality TV stars retain legal reps, we're doubting this argument will fly with the court.

Among other things in this fascinating response, Gosselin also argues the network failed to show irreparable harm because the show is on hiatus and TLC will have trouble quantifying its damages. 

In a separate court filing obtained by Radar Online, Gosselin is asserting several affirmative defenses and counterclaiming for $5 million in damages. 

 

Appeals court shoots down Rosenberg's SAG fight

By Matthew Belloni

California's court of appeal has denied former SAG president Alan Rosenberg's latest effort to overturn moves by the guild to abolish its negotiating committee and fire former executive director Doug Allen.

Here's the 21-page opinion of the three-judge panel, issued today. The panel ruled the appeal had been rendered "moot" by later moves SAG made, including firing Allen a second time.

Rosenberg, along with allies Anne-Marie Johnson, Diane Ladd and Kent McCord, brought the case against SAG claiming its 41-member board had concocted a bogus "written assent" excuse to sack Allen after Rosenberg had led a filibuster attempt at a January board meeting. Superior Court Judge James Chalfant denied Rosenberg's initial request for a temporary restraining order against the guild, so Rosenberg appealed. 

Now he's lost again, with the appeals panel ruling that "the appeal has been rendered moot by the decision of the majority of the board on Feb. 9 to ratify and readopt the provisions of the written assent and by the subsequent decision by SAG members to accept the contract negotiated pursuant to the board's Feb. 9 vote," according to the opinion.

SAG was also awarded its costs. The guild was repped by Daniel Alberstone, Roland Tellis and Sara Jasper Epstein at Santa Monica's Bingham McCutchen. Eric George and Sonia Lee at LA's Browne Woods George repped Rosenberg and crew.

Letterman's admission: the legal ramifications

By Eriq Gardner

David Letterman's surprising admission that he had sex with "Late Show" female staffers and had been blackmailed over his affairs could cause some legal discomfort for CBS.

In a statement, the network said it was "cooperating fully with the authorities" and had suspended the employee — revealed to be Emmy-winning CBS News producer Robert Halderman — pending the results of the investigation.

CBS is likely also doing its own investigation.

Most companies have clear policies covering sexual relations between employees. And David Letterman is no average employee. He's one of the most highly-paid and powerful men in media. He has the power to hire and fire employees on his show, which employment lawyers will tell you is the first red flag when evaluating a sexual relationship in the workplace.

Plus, Letterman probably has a morals clause in his contract with CBS that allows for termination for morally offensive conduct. Does this behavior rise to that level? We'd say no, but we're not running CBS.

Further, it seems unlikely that Letterman conferred with in-house CBS counsel before going live with the story. They might have advised him that speaking about the subject publicly could be used in any future civil lawsuit.

The first concern for CBS has to be liability on the sexual harassment front. Was this a quid pro quo relationship where staffers got career benefits for sleeping with Dave? Or might the sexual dalliances have created a hostile workplace for other female staffers on the show? CBS needs to investigate this further.

Letterman's admission also raises other possible issues. If the media start hounding these staffers, there could be an invasion of privacy. And if Letterman said anything untrue about Halderman or if he made implications about staffers on his show, there's a potential defamation claim too.

Letterman no doubt wanted to get on the record about this issue first — it was an awkward yet well-handled moment in TV history — but he put CBS in tough spot. The network will need to take some actions or risk some litigation.

Judge: Clear Channel can fire DJ for explicit on-air comments

By Eriq Gardner

A federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit brought by shock jock DJ Star against Clear Channel for violating an employment agreement by terminating him for racy on-air comments.

DJ Star, whose real name is Troi Torain, sued the entertainment conglom after he was fired from the Power 105 radio station in 2006 for suggesting he wanted to sexually abuse the young daughter of a rival DJ on a competing station. The comment drew strong reaction, including from a New York city councilman who called the shock jock a "sick racist pedophile" (Star later sued him for defamation) and the FCC, which investigated the matter.

The employment agreement ran to March, 2007, but Clear Channel insisted it had proper cause under the contract to terminate DJ Star's services early for "utter(ing) obscene, indecent or profane program content" and for making an act that threatened recourse from the FCC.

DJ Star argued he was hired with an understanding that he'd push the boundaries and that his comments weren't unusual. But in his decision, Judge Peter Leisure says it was Star's responsibility to ensure his contract had broader protections and that the employment agreement "unambiguously provide(s) Clear Channel with the authority to terminate Torain."

Arbitrator accepts Jeremy Piven's sushi explanation

By Eriq Gardner

An arbitrator has ruled that Jeremy Piven didn't breach his contract when he bowed out of the play "Speed the Plow" for health-related reasons.

The story became an international sensation last year when Piven's health excuse was elevated levels of mercury in his blood. Piven said a possible cause might have been eating too much raw fish.

Broadway producers didn't like the sushi excuse and brought the situation to a panel comprised of the Actors Equity and the Broadway League. In March, the panel split 5-to-5, and the producer of the play exercised an option under labor rules to bring the matter to an independent arbitrator.

Now, according to the Actors Equity Association, the labor union representing actors and stage managers in theater, the arbitrator has ruled in favor of Piven.

The star of "Entourage" said in a statement, "I'm pleased with the outcome of the arbitration and to be completely vindicated in this matter based on the facts and the medical evidence."

Inside the Octomom reality show contract

By Eriq Gardner

Last week, "Octo-Mom" Nadya Suleman signed a deal with Eyeworks, a British production company, to begin work on a TV show that will feature her 14 children. Because the children are minors, the parties took the contract on Friday to the Los Angeles Superior Court for approval.

The papers reveal that the kids will collectively earn nearly $250,000 over the next three years, including $125,000 for 36 days of shooting in the first year, $75,000 for 21 days of shooting in the second year, and $50,000 for 14 days of shooting in the third year. Of course, the money will be split among the 14 children, which adds up to less than $18,000 per kid or about $250 per kid per day of shooting. 

SAG doesn't hold jurisdiction on reality performers, but for perspective, the union scale minimum was reportedly set at $800 per day in its last deal with AMPTP. 

Suleman's contract for her kids is raising the eyebrows of some child performer monitors. One group is asking the Superior Court to appoint a guardian to oversee the financial interests of Suleman's 14 children.

This isn't only a question of money. Reality shows like "Jon & Kate Plus 8" that feature children have been investigated by authorities to see whether working conditions violate child labor laws. 

Plus, reality TV contracts have been known to be incredibly generous towards producers. For example, the contract signed by the women in "Real Housewives of New Jersey" gave producers among many other jaw-dropping clauses the right to film the ladies in everything except bathing, urination/defecation, and sex and gave producers 10 percent of income of "any and all gross income...unrelated to the Series" the women earned up to four years after the last episode of the series.

Hopefully, the judge will make sure that Suleman's children made out better.

Radical lawsuit hits comic book powerhouse

By Eriq Gardner

In the comic book world, there are heroes and evil-doers. In the real world, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference.

Just in time for Comic-Con comes allegations that Radical Comics owner Blatant Entertainment, the company behind characters including Hercules, Caliber, Ryder of the Storm and Assassins, has performed less than heroically for one of its co-founders.

David Elliott has filed a lawsuit against Blatant (which also owns the film arm Radical Pictures) and shareholders Barry Levine, Jesse Berger and Matthew Berger in California Superior Court. Elliott says he's the co-founder, co-publisher, and former editor-in-chief of the company and its various publishing efforts, and that it terminated him in April. Elliott alleges that Blatant hasn't given him his full salary, failed to properly credit him on several projects including Hercules and Aladdin, and is exploiting properties without consideration where Elliott owns a portion of the copyrights.

One thing we find interesting about this complaint is the following allegation: 

"Blatant's management failed to have any of its employees sign work-for-hire agreements and/or assignments of copyrights, thereby clouding title to all of Blatant's projects, and making it impossible for Blatant to provide proper chain of title documents and guarantees to investors, production companies, studios, and insurers, to the detriment of its shareholders."

True? Blatant declined to comment on the lawsuit. Perhaps chain-of-title-- and this lawsuit--will make for good discussion at Comic-Con.