Animation studios have agreed to pay $100 million in settlement to animation and visual effect workers for anti trust lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in 2014 accusing the studios to create a pact to keep the labor cost at the low level.
According to court filing issued Tuesday, Feb. 1, as reported by Hollywood Reporter, the remaining studios agreed to pay $100 million to settle the lawsuit. Previously, DreamWorks have agreed to pay $50 million settlement in October last year.
The remaining animation studios are The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Blue Sky Studios and Two Pic MC. They agreed to end the lawsuit filed by the animation and visual effect workers.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2014 on behalf of a former visual effects worker at DreamWorks Animation Robert Nitsch Jr. the plaintiff accused the studios to create a pact for wage-fixing workers salary at the lowest level possible.
Two other plaintiffs later followed, as reported by SF Gate. They are a former ImageMovers Digital production engineer David Wentworth and digital artist Georgia Cano.
In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged the agreement between Pixar and Lucasfilm in 1980’s to not poach each other employees have created pact between the studios to keep the labor cost at low level. They argued the pact is a violation to antitrust law. The lawsuits were filed at the U.S. District Court in San Jose Northern California.
The lawsuit has experienced ups and downs as two years before, the judge rejected the lawsuit in April 2015. According to U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. the filing were too late to file and had no valid reason to overcome statute of limitations. However, attorneys at Cohen Milstein who represented the plaintiffs argued the case had no statute of limitations.
After years of legal battle, the settlement was finally reached. Dream Works agreed to pay $50 million settlement last year. Afterward, the remaining studios agreed to pay $100 million to settle the lawsuit on Wednesday..
Watch the report about the judge dismissed the lawsuit two years before in 2015 before the relentless legal battle ended last Tuesday, Feb 21 below:
