A federal class-action lawsuit alleging top animation studios conspired to suppress wages has been dismissed.
In a ruling issued April 3, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh cited the statute of limitations in dismissing the complaint, which was filed by former DreamWorks senior character effects artist Robert Nitsch, former ImageMovers Digital production engineer David Wentworth and digital artist Georgia Cano, who held jobs at Rhythm & Hues, Walt Disney Feature Animation and ImageMovers Digital.
The suit was filed against DreamWorks Animation, The Walt Disney Co., Sony Imageworks, ImageMovers, Blue Sky Studios, Lucasfilm and Pixar.
The ruling stated that the plaintiffs failed to show any actions taken by the studios after Sept. 8, 2010, which is the cutoff for the statute of limitations.
The plaintiffs are free to amend their complaint and have 30 days to do so. The judge also said that the studios must still comply with discovery requests.
Animation studios in Korea and China have a far worse situation.
They have slave labor conditions and no redress.
The issues are tied together, as some of these companies outsource to subsidiary studios in Korea and China
Keep giving your money to big corporations like the good sheep you are. They will look for every way to rape you and keep you down, because they know the statue of limitations will favor them.
Not that I disagree with this lawsuit or that the corporate system of animation isn’t flawed but there is an irony to your statement. As flawed as it is, if people don’t buy the goods then there is no reasons for the artists to begin with. One merely has to look at the Dreamworks layoff for proof of that. IMHO it is best to continue to support fighting through legal, legislative, and grassroots avenues to achieve change. Else we end up with the early 80’s badlands of animation again.