A federal judge has rejected VFX and animation companies’ motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit claiming the companies conspired to suppress wages and agree not to poach each other’s employees.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said the evidence in an amended complaint suggests “a plausible inference” that the studios — DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, Disney, Lucasfilm and Pixar — had agreed not to solicit each others’ workers, shared information about pay practices and took steps to keep secret the agreement.
The original complaint — filed by lighting artist Georgia Cano, character effects artist Robert Nitsch and production engineer David Wentworth — accuses the studios of suppressing wages since 2004 by refraining from cold-calling employees and sharing news of job offers.
Koh dismissed the lawsuit in April, partly because many claims were brought too late, but said the plaintiffs could file an amended complaint within 30 days.
On Thursday, Koh said the amended complaint sufficiently alleged that the studios tried to fraudulently conceal their conspiracy and that the statute of limitations could therefore be put on hold.
So dodgy, shame on you Pixar and the rest. Your artists are the reason you are rich beyond anyones wildest dreams, and still you try to take the money out of their pockets.
Write more than this. Did any companies comment? Did you try to get a comment? explain the situation more… like this is not an article.
I wonder what the average artist wage today would be had these big studios not been fixing the wages for so many years. The effects of wage fixing are much broader and longer lasting than perhaps appreciated.
I remember, as a vfx artist, this being discussed openly by HR people in the early 00s.