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Courthouse Steps
CASE CAPTION: Writers & Artists Agency Inc., dba Writers & Artists Group International v. Adam Rodriguez, L.A. Superior Court # BC342775.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Breach of written contract; quantum meruit; account stated; money had and received; and declaratory relief.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: The defendant hired the plaintiff as his agent in 1998 for a 10% commission. The plaintiff obtained employment for the defendant in 2002 in a starring role as Eric Delko in “CSI: Miami.” In 2004, Rodriguez discharged the plaintiff and stopped making commission payments for his appearances on the series before the beginning of the 2004-2005 season. The defendant owes the plaintiff $92,611 for the 2004-2005 season and 10% of what he makes for the 2005-2006 season.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Bryan J. Freedman and Matthew E. Voss of L.A.'s Freedman & Taitelman (310-201-0005).
CASE CAPTION: Alexander William Guevara v. Sony BMG Entertainment, L.A. Superior Court # BC342359.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Class action for violation of Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Bus. & Prof. Code Secs. 22947.3 and 17200.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: This suit was filed on behalf of a person who acquired a Sony BMG compact disc containing XCP2, extended copy protection, technology. The CD contains a hidden “rootkit” program disguised as song-playing software that surreptitiously installs directly into the root of a user's computer system. The program cloaks itself and cannot be uninstalled without damaging the computer system. Sony doesn't advise consumers of the true nature of the program and misleads them into thinking it can be uninstalled. The program prevents the copying of a CD beyond a certain number of times; it has been responsible for system crashes and other damage. (Sony has since announced that it is recalling the CDs containing the rootkit.)
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Alan Himmelfarb of Vernon, CA (323-585-8696).
CASE CAPTION: MediaBay Inc. v. Celebrity Newsletter LLC, Larry King and Larry King Enterprises Inc., L.A. Superior Court #BC342012.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Breach of contract; breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing; and negligent misrepresentation.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: In Aug. 2004, MediaBay entered into an agreement with Celebrity Newsletter ' a company partly owned by defendant King ' which licensed to MediaBay King's trademark, name, likeness, voice and signature in connection with audiobook and oldtime-radio Web sites. King was also to endorse a Larry King book club where consumers could download for a fee the books he recommended. The MediaBay/Celebrity-Newsletter agreement contained a warranty that Celebrity Newsletter had the full legal rights to grant the licenses. King personally signed the agreement. King's lawyer also stated that there was no reason to worry about whether King's services could be delivered. The radio site was launched in early 2005 and the larrykingaudio.com was set to launch after MediaBay spent more than $1.7 million developing the site. On the day the site was set to launch, Celebrity Newsletter informed MediaBay that it wouldn't approve the site going active until approval was obtained from King's cable employer CNN. The next day, CNN stated it wouldn't permit King to participate in a site that CNN perceived as competing with its own. King later confirmed that he wouldn't honor the agreement with MediaBay.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Marc M. Seltzer and Nicholas F. Daum of L.A.'s Susman Godfrey (310-789-3100).
CASE CAPTION: Tamara Trione v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.; Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox; Marla Rothschild; Jean T. Levicki; Jodi Jamieson; and Cheryl Pierce, L.A. Superior Court # BC341756.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Wrongful termination and defamation.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: The plaintiff served as international publicity coordinator for Fox. In the fall of 2002, she learned that Liz West, then vice president of international publicity and promotions, was funneling Fox's outside vendor jobs to West's husband, Gareth West, and his companies. The plaintiff raised the issue at a staff meeting and was told that senior management knew of the arrangement and approved as long as Gareth's companies provided competitive pricing. The plaintiff later learned that Gareth West's companies were charging multiple times more than fair-market rates and that other employees were getting bonuses in connection with the West invoices. The plaintiff tried to convince Liz West and Sophia Nicolaou, the international publicity manager, to stop this. The plaintiff complained to human resources and Liz West was eventually allowed to resign. However, other executives, including Nicolaou, began to harass the plaintiff and spread false statements about her. The plaintiff got unfavorable performance evaluations. She was also falsely accused of stealing a laptop and was fired last February.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: David M. deRubertis and David A. Lesser of The deRubertis Law Firm of Woodland Hills, CA (818-227-8616).
CASE CAPTION: Writers & Artists Agency Inc., dba Writers & Artists Group International v. Adam Rodriguez, L.A. Superior Court # BC342775.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Breach of written contract; quantum meruit; account stated; money had and received; and declaratory relief.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: The defendant hired the plaintiff as his agent in 1998 for a 10% commission. The plaintiff obtained employment for the defendant in 2002 in a starring role as Eric Delko in “CSI: Miami.” In 2004, Rodriguez discharged the plaintiff and stopped making commission payments for his appearances on the series before the beginning of the 2004-2005 season. The defendant owes the plaintiff $92,611 for the 2004-2005 season and 10% of what he makes for the 2005-2006 season.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Bryan J. Freedman and Matthew E. Voss of L.A.'s Freedman & Taitelman (310-201-0005).
CASE CAPTION: Alexander William Guevara v. Sony BMG Entertainment, L.A. Superior Court # BC342359.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Class action for violation of Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Bus. & Prof. Code Secs. 22947.3 and 17200.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: This suit was filed on behalf of a person who acquired a Sony BMG compact disc containing XCP2, extended copy protection, technology. The CD contains a hidden “rootkit” program disguised as song-playing software that surreptitiously installs directly into the root of a user's computer system. The program cloaks itself and cannot be uninstalled without damaging the computer system. Sony doesn't advise consumers of the true nature of the program and misleads them into thinking it can be uninstalled. The program prevents the copying of a CD beyond a certain number of times; it has been responsible for system crashes and other damage. (Sony has since announced that it is recalling the CDs containing the rootkit.)
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Alan Himmelfarb of Vernon, CA (323-585-8696).
CASE CAPTION: MediaBay Inc. v. Celebrity Newsletter LLC, Larry King and Larry King Enterprises Inc., L.A. Superior Court #BC342012.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Breach of contract; breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing; and negligent misrepresentation.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: In Aug. 2004, MediaBay entered into an agreement with Celebrity Newsletter ' a company partly owned by defendant King ' which licensed to MediaBay King's trademark, name, likeness, voice and signature in connection with audiobook and oldtime-radio Web sites. King was also to endorse a Larry King book club where consumers could download for a fee the books he recommended. The MediaBay/Celebrity-Newsletter agreement contained a warranty that Celebrity Newsletter had the full legal rights to grant the licenses. King personally signed the agreement. King's lawyer also stated that there was no reason to worry about whether King's services could be delivered. The radio site was launched in early 2005 and the larrykingaudio.com was set to launch after MediaBay spent more than $1.7 million developing the site. On the day the site was set to launch, Celebrity Newsletter informed MediaBay that it wouldn't approve the site going active until approval was obtained from King's cable employer CNN. The next day, CNN stated it wouldn't permit King to participate in a site that CNN perceived as competing with its own. King later confirmed that he wouldn't honor the agreement with MediaBay.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: Marc M. Seltzer and Nicholas F. Daum of L.A.'s
CASE CAPTION: Tamara Trione v.
CAUSES OF ACTION: Wrongful termination and defamation.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS: The plaintiff served as international publicity coordinator for Fox. In the fall of 2002, she learned that Liz West, then vice president of international publicity and promotions, was funneling Fox's outside vendor jobs to West's husband, Gareth West, and his companies. The plaintiff raised the issue at a staff meeting and was told that senior management knew of the arrangement and approved as long as Gareth's companies provided competitive pricing. The plaintiff later learned that Gareth West's companies were charging multiple times more than fair-market rates and that other employees were getting bonuses in connection with the West invoices. The plaintiff tried to convince Liz West and Sophia Nicolaou, the international publicity manager, to stop this. The plaintiff complained to human resources and Liz West was eventually allowed to resign. However, other executives, including Nicolaou, began to harass the plaintiff and spread false statements about her. The plaintiff got unfavorable performance evaluations. She was also falsely accused of stealing a laptop and was fired last February.
PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL: David M. deRubertis and David A. Lesser of The deRubertis Law Firm of Woodland Hills, CA (818-227-8616).
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