‘Titanic’ Actress’ Union Contract Class Action Survives Trimming

By Jessy Edwards | February 28, 2022

Category: Labor & Employment

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Head offices of the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on mid-Wilshire Blvd. — (Photo Credit: Daniel J. Macy/Shutterstock)

Update:

Titanic actress Frances Fisher argued in a two-times amended complaint that the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) failed to properly represent its union members.
This attempt represented Fisher’s last chance to plead her case for the proposed class action lawsuit.
Fisher claims SAG-AFTRA encouraged its members to support contracts that cut retiree health care benefits.
Fisher claims SAG-AFTRA violated the National Labor Relations Act by telling union members to sign contracts that ended up hurting their benefits.
Fisher claims SAG-AFTRA also failed to inform union members that a new collective bargaining agreement would lead to cut benefits.

Frances Fisher Union Contract Class Action Overview:

Who: Actress Frances Fisher, who played Rose’s mom in “Titanic,” is suing the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and some union officials.
Why: Fisher alleges union members were misled before agreeing to new contracts that slashed retiree benefits.
Where: The class action is being heard in a California federal court.

(1/26/2022)

A class action lawsuit filed by “Titanic” actress Frances Fisher may be sinking, but a judge has given her leave to amend her claims to keep it afloat.

On Jan. 24, a California federal judge told the parties she was likely to dismiss some or all of the class action brought by Fisher against Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and some union officials, Law360 reports.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said the complaint appeared deficient in a number of areas, including her allegation that the union officials breached their fiduciary duty to union members.

“It may well be that you can allege that the outcome would have been different but for the alleged breach of fiduciary duty, but I just don’t think you’ve done that yet,” Judge Snyder said.

Fisher, who played the mother of main character Rose in the movie “Titanic,” filed the class action lawsuit last August and claims the labor union misled its members before signing collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), which cut many older members’ health benefits.

She alleges SAG-AFTRA violated its duty of fair representation by signing the CBAs.

SAG-AFTRA Members Aged 65+ Most Harmed By New CBAs, Fisher Said

Fisher’s class action lawsuit revolves around changes to members’ health plans that were affected by three CBAs, which cover union staff who work on television and theatrical productions, Netflix and commercials, signed by SAG-AFTRA officials.

SAG-AFTRA members aged 65 or older are most harmed by the new CBAs, Fisher says, as they raise the income threshold for members to qualify for benefits and cut out pensioners who may have been eligible through residual earnings.

SAG-AFTRA officials argue they did not cause the harm Fisher says they did, claiming they appropriately balanced their obligations to both current members and retirees.

Their lawyers argue Fisher “failed to point to any provision of the union constitution, or of any other governing document, that proposed such a duty” for union negotiators to disclose the condition of the health fund to other negotiators.

Fisher is seeking to represent a class of 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members who were allegedly misled by the labor union’s officials before the new CBAs were signed.

Do you believe SAG-AFTRA officials misled members before signing new collective bargaining agreements? Let us know in the comments!

Fisher is represented by Steven Schwartz and Robert Kriner of Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP.

The Frances Fisher SAG-AFTRA Class Action Lawsuit is Francis Fisher v. SAG-AFTRA et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-05215, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.