A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a stunt coordinator against the Walt Disney Co. in which he alleged a company vice president blacklisted him in retaliation for the plaintiff's ability to defeat a workplace investigation he contended that the executive initiated against him.
Jimmy Sharp's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit stated that the investigation vindicated the plaintiff of overbilling and workplace favoritism allegations. He alleged retaliatory discharge/wrongful termination, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage and preventing subsequent employment by misrepresentation/blacklisting.
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On Sept. 9, Judge Alison Mackenzie granted a Disney motion to dismiss Sharp's case, finding there were no triable issues. The judge had heard arguments on Sept. 3 and taken the case under submission.
According to his lawsuit, Sharp began his Hollywood career as a stuntman and transitioned to a stunt coordinator for Fox Studios in 2010. One of his first jobs as a stunt coordinator was on the hit series "Modern Family," on which he worked for multiple seasons.
Over time, Sharp was hired as stunt coordinator on about 90% of Fox- produced shows and he commonly was employed on five to 10 shows at any time, according to the suit. His stunt coordinator credits include "Glee," "American Horror Story," "Sons of Anarchy," "New Girl" and "American Crime Story," the suit stated.
In 2017, Disney announced that it was acquiring 20th Century Fox film and television studios, including the Fox Studios where Sharp worked. That year, a Disney vice president, Nissa Diederich, made a "frivolous complaint" against Sharp that was followed by a human resources investigation, the suit stated. Diederich's complaint alleged billing irregularities and workplace favoritism tied to Sharp's father, Jim Sharp Sr., being the head of television production, the suit stated.
Sharp cooperated in the probe and the complaint was later found to be unsubstantiated, the suit stated.
Diederich, who allegedly initiated the investigation, set out on a campaign to retaliate against (Sharp), according to the suit.
Diederich interfered, retaliated and blacklisted Sharp to prevent the plaintiff from working on certain productions with Fox, Disney and other studios in the future and over time he was permanently removed from all shows under Diederich's control, including all shows for writer Ryan Murphy, the suit stated.
Sharp "reached out on numerous occasions to extend an olive branch and resolve any concerns on the part of Diederich, but his efforts were ignored and his emails were not returned," the suit alleged.
When Sharp's father stepped down in March 2022 as head of production, he was replaced by Diederich, who mounted a campaign to deliberately disrupt the plaintiff's employment and professional business relationships in the industry, the suit stated.
Beginning in April of that year, production executives who worked under Diederich and who would hire Sharp no longer would and producers who wanted to hire him told the plaintiff they could no longer hire him, the suit stated. One unit production manager allegedly said that Sharp was essentially put on a "do not hire" list.
But in her ruling, the judge noted Diederich's sworn declaration in which she said she had not made any negative or disparaging comments about Sharp to anyone in a position to hire him.
"I have not made any false statements, lies or misrepresentations about Mr. Sharp to outside employers, other studios or to anyone else," said Diederich, who is now an executive producer at Ryan Murphy Productions.
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