If you’re like us, you’re still reeling from the Los Angeles Times’ report into the alleged workplace culture at Justin Baldoni‘s production company Wayfarer Studios.
As we reported on Wednesday evening, former staffers came forward anonymously to detail their alleged “inappropriate” work experiences to the newspaper. But that’s only half the story. According to the paper’s same reporting, Baldoni and Wayfarer were actually involved in a 2020 lawsuit that nobody knew about before! Not until now, that is!
Related: Justin Baldoni Lawsuit PAUSED By Judge! Damn!
So, back in December 2020, a movie exec named Shane Norman — who is Black, BTW — filed a lawsuit against Wayfarer. In the filing, he claimed that he was “recruited with promises of job security and professional advancement,” but was eventually “terminated after raising concerns about racial inequities at the company.”
Whoa!!!
In the complaint, Norman claimed Wayfarer investor and executive Steve Sarowitz straight-up said this to him during the hiring process:
“We need somebody here who looks like you.”
Uh, icky! And even ickier is how Norman claimed in the suit that Wayfarer showed “a pattern of sidelining and tokenizing people of color.” FWIW Jamey Heath, the CEO of Wayfarer, is Black.
After speaking up about that issue while still employed, Norman’s suit alleges that he was first demoted, and then fired:
“[Norman was] demoted, his pay was cut and he was ultimately terminated, while non-Black employees in similar circumstances received severance packages that he was denied.”
Yikes…
Per the newspaper, Baldoni and Wayfarer jointly denied all those accusations not long after the suit was brought at the end of 2020. And by September 2021, a judge had dismissed several of the claims in Norman’s filing. At first, the executive tried to file an appeal. But in the end, he decided to voluntarily dismiss his own lawsuit with prejudice — which is a legal term meaning he cannot refile it.
According to the Los Angeles Times citing a source who had knowledge of negotiations going on at that time, Norman allegedly walked away with about $150,000 in exchange for dropping the claims. Then, for more than four years after that, NOBODY knew about that lawsuit. Until the newspaper started digging around for their bombshell feature!
Related: Justin Baldoni’s Open Letter To Women! He Says…
BTW, just like he did with the newspaper’s other reporting, Baldoni has also now gone on the offensive regarding this unearthed lawsuit. In a statement sent to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the actor said:
“Throughout their defense of Mr. Norman’s lawsuit … Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and Wayfarer Entertainment vigorously denied all of Mr. Norman’s claims. In fact, public records confirm the trial court dismissed Mr. Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios from the lawsuit well before any resolution by the parties and the concurrent dismissal of the remainder of the lawsuit. Other than stating that the matter was resolved, we are unable to further comment.”
A spokesperson for Wayfarer also delivered this remark about Baldoni, Wayfarer, and Sarowitz to the LA Times:
“Mr. Sarowitz was not a defendant in the lawsuit. … Wayfarer Studios, Wayfarer Entertainment, and Baldoni denied this and all the material allegations in the complaint, the First Amended Complaint, and the Second Amended Complaint.”
Now, this isn’t the first time Baldoni has been involved in a high-profile lawsuit. (Nor is it the second time… right Blake Lively??)
Three years ago, Baldoni and Wayfarer were sued by a writer named Travis Flores who claimed the company ripped off a script he’d penned called Three Feet Distance in order to make the movie that would become Baldoni’s directorial debut, Five Feet Apart.
That movie, which starred Cole Sprouse, examined the challenges of living with cystic fibrosis. Flores — who suffered from cystic fibrosis and had been through three lung transplants — claimed Baldoni stole his script to make it. In the end, a federal judge dismissed Flores’ suit in March of 2022.
But people had already known about that lawsuit. And also, obviously, we know all about Baldoni’s ongoing legal battle with the Gossip Girl alum. But this lawsuit involving Norman?? The public had NO clue about this one before now.
At this point, it really makes us wonder: what the hell is gonna be the NEXT shoe to drop??
To learn more about civil rights issues, check out https://www.splcenter.org/.
[Image via CBS Mornings/YouTube]
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