Former "Deadwood" actor Brent Sexton won a round in court when a judge denied Apple LLC's motion to dismiss on free-speech grounds his lawsuit alleging the company cost him nearly $600,000 by denying him a starring role in a new series due to its COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Sexton's Los Angeles Superior Court disability discrimination suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Apple attorneys previously filed a motion under the state's anti-SLAPP -- Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation -- law, which is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
But on Thursday, Judge Michael P. Linfield denied Apple's dismissal motion.
"There is a significant difference between the government using its police power to require vaccinations and a company implementing a policy that required vaccinations -- without any alternative, and of its own volition -- as a condition of employment," the judge wrote.
The 56-year-old Sexton provided enough evidence demonstrating a probability that he was qualified to do the role had he undergone daily testing for COVID-19, the judge further wrote.
Apple lawyers had argued that if Sexton's is allowed to proceed, it threatens to create a "judicially recognized limit on motion picture and television producers' First Amendment right to free speech by forcing them to sacrifice artistic expression in order to avoid meritless employment and privacy lawsuits such as the instant action."
But according to a sworn declaration submitted by Sexton, the actor has a longtime disability that includes blood clots, and so he could not take a coronavirus vaccine. He said he asked for an accommodation based on that disability that was sanctioned by an agreement between Apple Studios and the Screen Actors Guild.
"I have been an actor for many years," Sexton says. "Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I had never been required to get an injection as a condition of a role. I viewed the vaccination requirement as a serious invasion of my privacy rights, my right to bodily autonomy."
In February 2022, Sexton submitted a self-tape audition to play President Andrew Johnson on "Manhunt," a miniseries that Apple Studios is producing, which focuses on the U.S. government's search for President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, according to the complaint.
Sexton, now 56, was granted the role a week later and Apple offered him a deal worth nearly $600,000 and incentives with a seven-episode minimum, the suit states. But after accepting the deal, Sexton was told he would have to comply with the vaccination policy despite its potential negative impact on his longtime medical problem, the suit filed May 22 states. He requested an accommodation for regular coronavirus testing and included a note from his doctor in support, the suit adds.
Apple allegedly did not question the legitimacy of Sexton's request, but denied his accommodation request within 48 hours and withdrew the job offer.
Trial of Sexton's suit is scheduled Oct. 21, 2024.
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