The judge presiding over a lawsuit brought against ABC by former “General Hospital” actor Ingo Rademacher — who was fired in 2021 after 25 years with the show for opposing the network’s directive to be vaccinated against the coronavirus — says he may remove himself from the case because he owns stock in ABC parent company Disney.
During a case management conference on Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephen I. Goorvitch told attorneys he possesses 55 shares of Disney stock that is currently worth about $7,500.
“This comprises less than 1% of the court’s net worth,” the judge’s clerk wrote in a minute order. “The court’s financial plan contemplates purchases of up to 445 additional shares of Walt Disney stock through dividend reinvestment as well as additional investments depending on market conditions.”
Therefore, the judge may own as many as 500 shares of Walt Disney stock during the pendency of the Rademacher suit, the clerk further wrote.
The judge set another hearing for April 27, at which time he will step down from the case officially unless the attorneys and parties sign papers waiving any conflict.
The 50-year-old Rademacher sued Dec. 13, alleging that he was denied a religious exemption from getting the vaccine after an interview in which the network had an attorney present, but the actor was denied the same opportunity.
“ABC’s actions are blatantly unlawful,” Rademacher’s court papers state. “ABC does not have the authority to force a medical treatment on its employees against their will.”
When ABC decided to recognize exemptions to its vaccine mandate, it had to honor all of them, Rademacher’s suit states.
Rademacher’s right to medical privacy also was violated, the suit states.
In addition to asking a judge to find the ABC vaccine mandate unconstitutional, Rademacher seeks compensatory damages.
Rademacher portrayed the character of tycoon Jasper “Jax” Jacks on “General Hospital.” He is a member of the board of Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental organization.