Gina Carano got another big win in her lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm as Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett rejected Disney’s request to block discovery as it appealed its failed motion to dismiss to the Ninth Circuit Court.
Gina Carano at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2024. Photo Credit: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Carano shared the victory on X writing, “After the Judge DENIED Disneys request to DISMISS my case, Disney requested permission to immediately appeal that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and delay all discovery while that appeal takes place.
“Yesterday, October 16th, 2024 we learned that the Judge DENIED Disney’s unusual request. I am obviously very pleased with the opportunity to keep moving forward with the judicial process and into discovery,” she revealed. “While I wish this was not necessary as it is not my desire to be in this battle in court. I will not shrink away from it because it is hard or uncomfortable.”
Carano concluded, “Again, a huge thanks to ALL of you who have shown me support daily, to my incredible lawyers and to Elon Musk and the people at X for the opportunity in continuing this lawsuit and seeking justice. Onward.”
UPDATE:
After the Judge DENIED Disneys request to DISMISS my case, Disney requested permission to immediately appeal that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and delay all discovery while that appeal takes place.
Yesterday, October 16th, 2024 we learned that the… https://t.co/zEcR4pZcFw pic.twitter.com/v7xHVTCw8l
— Gina Carano 🕯 (@ginacarano) October 17, 2024
READ: Gina Carano Denounces Disney: “I Don’t Worship Your Business. And My God Is Bigger Than Disney.”
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett made it clear in a 10-page ruling that Disney’s request for a Stay of Proceedings was denied.
She wrote, “Having considered the parties’ submissions, the relevant law, and the record in this case, the Court DENIES the Motion.”
She also specifically addressed Disney attempting to avoid discovery by appealing to the Ninth Circuit, “Defendants do not, however, explain how a Ninth Circuit opinion affirming the Court’s Order would alleviate the burden of responding to the discovery Plaintiff has propounded to date, nor is it apparent to the Court how such a decision could provide such relief. In any event, arguments regarding discovery—which, the Court notes, were not at issue in the Order—do not appear to have any bearing on the termination of the litigation and do not persuade the Court that certification is appropriate here.”
Gina Carano via Shawn Ryan Show YouTube
Carano filed her lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company back in February with the lawsuit noting it “is a civil action arising from Defendants wrongful termination of Carano’s employment in retaliation for Carano’s lawful exercise of her right to speak and express her views. Specifically, Defendants—under the regime of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek—fired Carano because of her posts (‘the Posts’) on various social media platforms including X (formerly known as Twitter). Carano composed and published the Posts while she was off-duty and away from the workplace.”
The suit also alleges, “Defendants terminated Carano’s employment and took other retaliatory actions to limit and deny her future employment opportunities, including but not limited to making maliciously false statements about Carano with the intention of damaging her reputation and, thus, her ability to find and retain work.”
It also states, “Defendants treated Carano differently than her similarly situation male co-workers, who likewise expressed their personal political views on social media but, upon information and belief, were not counseled or disciplined, let alone terminated.”
Gina Carano is Cara Dune in THE MANDALORIAN, season two, exclusively on Disney+.
The lawsuit specifically accuses The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm of “wrongful discharge,” “wrongful discharge and refusal to hire,” and “sex discrimination.”
Carano is asking for “preliminary and permanent injunctive relief requiring Defendants to reinstate Carano to her prior position with no loss of pay or benefits; A judgement declaring that Defendants’ termination of Carano’s employment was unlawful and in violation of California law; Compensatory damages, including but not limited to loss of pay from the date of termination to the date of reinstatement, in an amount to be determined at trial, but exceeding $75,000; Compensatory damages for loss of future employment, including but not limited to the promised role in Rangers of the New Republic, in an amount to be determined at trial; Emotional distress damages, in an amount to be determined at trial; Punitive damages, in an amount to be determined at trial; Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and Such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.”
Gina Carano at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2024. Photo Credit: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Legal analyst Andrew Esquire, who hosts The Legal Mindset YouTube channel, noted in April that Disney’s attempt to dismiss the case would be “another huge fail” for the company.
He specifically stated, “The Walt Disney Company is setting up for another huge fail when it comes to the First Amendment in trying to dismiss the Gina Carano case.”
In the above video, he predicted “that this motion of dismiss will actually fail and this will indeed proceed to summary judgment. And more importantly to discovery which has always been the goal and the huge win for Gina Carano, particularly with funding from Elon Musk to get Discovery into Disney, to get emails, to get phone calls, text messages, meeting notes, all sorts of fun stuff about the discriminatory intent that lies behind Disney’s actions.”
He concluded, “Particularly, they’re looking at people’s political beliefs in deciding whether to fire somebody or not fire somebody on those basis which would be the core of Gina’s complaint. So we’ll see how it goes here but my prediction is the motion to dismiss will indeed be denied.”
Cara Dune (Gina Carano) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN.
What do you make of Carano’s latest legal victory over The Walt Disney Company?
