A director known for his work in such films as “Midnight Rider” and “Class Act” can proceed for now with his lawsuit against the Directors Guild of America in which the filmmaker alleges the DGA wrongfully expelled him in the aftermath of his facing of criminal charges in Georgia regarding the 2014 death of a crew member, a judge ruled Friday.
Randall Miller also contends in his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that the guild later expelled him without justification. Miller seeks compensatory damages and reinstatement to the DGA. On Friday, Judge Jeffery D. McFarland denied a motion by the DGA to dismiss Miller’s breach-of-contract suit and trial currently remains scheduled for June 14, 2027.
Camera assistant Sarah Jones was struck by a CSX freight train while the crew was filming a scene for “Midnight Rider” on a trestle. The singer Gregg Allman biopic that was to star the late William Hurt was later cancelled.
In their dismissal motion, DGA attorneys argued in their court papers that Miller’s causes of action violated the statute of limitations set by federal law and the National Labor Relations Act.
Miller is a motion picture director with 30 years of experience and in 2014. An accident occurred during filming in 2014 in which a crew member died. Criminal charges were brought against Miller and his wife, a co-producer on the film, and the plaintiff pleaded guilty to trespass and involuntary manslaughter charges in exchange for charges against his wife being dismissed, the judge wrote in his ruling.
Miller served a year in jail and ten years supervised probation, conditions of which banned him from serving as a director, first assistant director or supervisor with responsibility for safety in any film production, the judge additionally wrote.
After Miller was freed in 2015, the DGA imposed a one-year suspension prohibiting the plaintiff from directing guild signatory films during the period and he was eventually expelled after a second disciplinary proceeding. In his ruling the judge said Miller’s claims are based on the DGA’s alleged breach of its “own constitution,” primarily in its handling of the second disciplinary hearing and its expulsion decision.
Therefore, Miller’s claims are not subject to the National Labor Relations Act’s six-month statute of limitations, according to McFarland, who gave the DGA 10 days to file an answer to Miller’s lawsuit, which was filed last July 30.
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