A new report from Deadline indicates Gina Carano‘s lawsuit against Disney is likely moving to trial, after a Calfornia court denied Disney’s move to dismiss the lawsuit entirely.
In a ruling from California Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, the courts stated that Disney has “not identified any evidence—in the Complaint or otherwise—to substantiate a claim that they employ public-facing actors for the purpose of promoting the ‘values of respect,’ ‘decency,’ ‘integrity,’ or ‘inclusion.’ Accordingly, Defendants’ invocation of the supposedly detrimental effects of Plaintiff’s ‘mere presence’ as one of Defendants’ employees lacks constitutional import.”
While Disney and Carano could settle the suit out of court before any formal trial, should either party refuse to budge, a new court battle will be increasingly likely–at which point Disney will have to provide further evidence in their move to dismiss the case that California law prohibiting companies retaliating against employees on the basis of political activity and speech offers a broad exception for companies whose business is to engage in speech, including entertainment companies like Disney. “At this stage in the litigation, the Court cannot conclude, as Defendants urge it to, that Plaintiff’s continued employment by Defendants would inhibit or intrude upon Defendants’ rights to expressive association,” Judge Garnett’s statement continued. “As an initial matter, unlike the Boy Scouts or the Jaycees, Defendants are not members-only, nonprofit organizations. Instead, Defendants are for-profit corporations who, as relevant to this lawsuit, employ actors such as Plaintiff, as well as administrative staff, to create television series and films.”
Lucasfilm decided to cut ties with Carano in 2021, stating at the time that the actress, who played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, was not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future.” the move came after Star Wars fans advocated for Carano to be written off the show after a series of social media comments where she denigrated personal pronoun use, mocking covid mask mandates, spreading conspiracies about the United States election, and liking posts disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement. The final straw came with what the studio perceived as holocaust denial, when Carano equivocated that social ostracization of conservatives was tantamount to “where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews.”
This is actually a far thornier case than it may at first seem. Earlier in the month, Keri Russell made headlines stating Disney had fired her from The Mickey Mouse Club, because, in her own words, she “looked like [she had become] sexually active” between seasons. Disney also fired former Cheetah Girl, Adrienne Bailon, after nude photos of her were stolen and posted onto the internet. Not to mention director James Gunn, who was retroactively fired from directing Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (and ultimately reinstated) after offensive Tweets he’d written nearly a decade earlier were resurfaced by conservative activists. While none of these instances lead to legal action on the part of either the studio or the individuals involved, it does at least show a history of the studio’s willingness to part ways with people who it believes have morals that don’t align with Disney’s public persona.
Now, unless a settlement is reached, Disney and Lucasfilm will have to prove in court it was right to part ways with Carano. Whether or not they’d consider Carano’s demand to return to The Mandalorian, especially as it prepares to make the leap from streaming TV to a theatrical movie, remains to be seen.
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