Broadway Producer’s Antitrust Suit Against Actors’ and Stage Managers’ Union Dismissed by Court of Appeals

Garth Drabinsky attends the 75th Annual Tony Awards Meet the Nominees Press Event in New York City on May 12, 2022. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has rejected an appeal by Tony Award-winning producer Garth Drabinsky in a $50 million lawsuit claiming the Actors’ Equity Association, a union for actors and stage managers, blocked him from producing live Broadway shows.

The court ruled that Mr. Drabinsky, known for producing the Broadway show “Fosse,” could not continue with his $50 million lawsuit, which claimed the union violated antitrust and various state laws, including defamation.

In the decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Mr. Drabinsky’s antitrust claims, citing the statutory labor exemption from the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 and the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932. Mr. Drabinsky’s tort claims were also rejected, referencing the precedent set by Martin v. Curran, a New York state case that requires plaintiffs to prove individual liability for each union member to hold the union accountable, according to the court documents.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling. The appellate court emphasized that the burden falls on antitrust plaintiffs to demonstrate that the statutory labor exemption does not apply.

In Mr. Drabinsky’s case, the court found he failed to do so, noting the union was acting in its self-interest and had not collaborated with non-labor groups. Additionally, the court concurred that Mr. Drabinsky’s state-law tort claims were barred by the Martin v. Curran rule.

The court’s decision emphasized that the union’s conduct was aimed at legitimate labor goals, such as protecting its members’ wages and working conditions, which grants it immunity from antitrust liability.

The executive director of the Actors’ Equity Association expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision, hailing it as a reinforcement of the union’s right to use the Do Not Work list against employers that harm its members.

The “Do Not Work” list is a tool used by the Actors’ Equity Association to inform its members and those of its sister unions in the Associated Actors and Artistes of America about employers who are non-union or have not met the union’s standards for contracts.

Previously, Mr. Drabinsky was convicted of fraud and forgery in Canada, along with Livent co-founder Myron Gottlieb. In 2009, an Ontario court determined that Mr. Drabinsky and Mr. Gottlieb engaged in fraudulent and forged activities while managing Livent Inc. in the mid-1990s. The court found that the duo artificially inflated the company’s profits and understated its expenses. Mr. Drabinsky was sentenced to five years in prison.