Animation Workers Class Action Judge Orders Pixar to Show Docs

A California federal judge has granted the plaintiffs motion to compel Disney’s Pixar Studios to hand over various internal documents from a related antitrust case settled in March.

Following a hearing early last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Singh Grewal ordered Pixar to produce documents involving the animation studio’s former general counsel and executive vice president, Lois Scali for an in-camera review by Friday, ruling that the review method is a “considerably lower threshold” than full disclosure of the documents.

Judge Grewal also stated that the documents, which include meetings and emails exchanged between the studios, may reveal evidence to establish the claim that the “crime-fraud” exception to privilege applies.

“The Ninth Circuit has long recognized that ‘in camera review of privileged information may be used to establish whether the crime-fraud exception applies,’” the order states. “The evidence showing Scali’s involvement in Pixar’s alleged conspiracy suggests that plaintiffs are reasonable and in good faith in believing that Pixar was engaged in or planning a criminal or fraudulent scheme when it sought Scali’s advice to further that scheme.”

Last month, the proposed class of animators presented their case for class certification, telling the court that several animation and visual effects companies, including Pixar, Lucasfilm, Dreamworks, Walt Disney, and Sony Pictures conspired in violation of antitrust laws to restrain competitions for labor and reduce compensation class-wide.

Lead plaintiff Robert A. Nitsch Jr. a former senior character effects artist at DreamWorks Animation and technical director at Sony Pictures Imageworks, contended that the studios and other visual effects and animation companies conspired to suppress wages via “non-poaching” agreements between the companies.

The putative class action alleges that in order to accomplish their anticompetitive goals, these companies agreed not to solicit each other’s employees, and to coordinate compensation policies through collusive communications.

“By reducing solicitation, the defendants limited the amount of information available to the class to negotiate higher salaries. By colluding on compensation, the defendants increased the amount of information they had to negotiate lower salaries,” the motion said. “The combination effectively increased defendants’ bargaining power at the expense of class members.”

Lucasfilm and Pixar already were targets of a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit in 2010, along with Apple, Google, Adobe Systems, Intel Corp. and Intuit, in which the government contended that their “no solicitation” agreements prevented highly skilled employees from commanding better wages and job opportunities. The companies settled the litigation by agreeing to end such practices for a period of five years.

The proposed class action would include animation and visual effects workers at Pixar and Lucasfilm from 2001-2010, those at Dreamworks from 2003-2010, Disney and Sony from 2004 to 2010, Blue Sky from 2005 to 2010 and Image Movers from 2007 to 2010.

The plaintiffs are represented by interim co-lead counsel Jeff D. Friedman, Shana E. Scarlett, Steve W. Berman and Ashley A. Bede of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Marc M. Seltzer, Matthew R. Berry, Jordan Talge and John E. Schiltz of Susman Godfrey LLP and Daniel A. Small, Brent W. Johnson and Jeffrey B. Dubner of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

The Animation Workers Anti-Poaching Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 5:14-cv-04062, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: The animation workers antitrust class action settlement is now open! Click here for more information!
UPDATE 2: On Jan. 31, 2017, The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, and Lucasfilm have reached a $100 million settlementin a class action lawsuit filed by animation and visual effects workers claiming the companies violated antitrust laws by conspiring to suppress wages via non-poaching agreements.

UPDATE 3: On May 18, 2017, a California federal judge said she may sanction two Disney producers who objected to a $170 million settlement that would resolve an antitrust class action lawsuit alleging Disney, DreamWorks, Pixar and other studios agreed not to poach the other companies’ animation workers.

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