|
In a decision on Friday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San
Jose, California said the four-year statute of limitations ran
out long before the animators in September sued Walt Disney Co
and its Lucasfilm and Pixar units, Sony Corp, DreamWorks
Animation SKG Inc and 21st Century Fox Inc's Blue Sky Studios.
Koh also found no proof that the studios ran a "continuing"
conspiracy not to raid each other for talent or tried to cover
up their paper trail, which could justify stopping the clock.
"The allegation that defendants engaged in a secret conspiracy
does not show that defendants took affirmative steps to
mislead," Koh wrote in a 32-page decision.
She gave the plaintiffs permission to amend their lawsuit.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Monday
to requests for comment.
Animators accused the studios of having suppressed wages since
2004 by refraining from cold calling employees, by sharing news
of job offers, and by agreeing not to get in bidding wars.
The lawsuit raised many of the issues underlying a 2009 U.S.
Department of Justice probe into Silicon Valley recruiting, and
a separate $415 million settlement of claims that Apple Inc,
Google Inc, Intel Corp and Adobe Systems Inc agreed not to poach
each others' engineers.
Koh approved that accord last month. Lucasfilm, Pixar and Intuit
Inc have settled similar claims covering other workers for a
combined $20 million.
The named plaintiffs in the animators' case are lighting artist
Georgia Cano, character effects artist Robert Nitsch and
production engineer David Wentworth.
Koh said the statute of limitations ran out on their claims as
early as 2008, and no later than 2011.
The studios had called it "implausible" to believe they would
collude on wages after the Justice Department probe began.
The case is In re: Animation Workers Antitrust Litigation, U.S.
District Court, Northern District of California, No. 14-04062.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by
Bernadette Baum)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
