Disney’s Motion to Dismiss Gina Carano’s Lawsuit Has Been Rejected
Gina Carano has won the first battle in what now looks like a drawn-out war against The Walt Disney Company after a California judge rejected Disney’s motion to dismiss The Mandalorian star’s lawsuit.
Back by Elon Musk, Carano is suing Disney and Lucasfilm over her 2021 firing from The Mandalorian. In her suit, the actress claims that she was terminated for simply voicing right-wing political opinions on social media.
Carano is also accusing Disney and Lucasfilm of harassment and defamation after she refused to “conform” to the studios’ views on issues ranging from Black Lives Matter to preferred pronouns and the 2020 election.
THE MANDALORIAN. Left to right: Gina Carano is Cara Dune, Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian and Carl Weathers is Greef Karga. Photo: Also Lucasfilm.
In short, Carano argues that she was fired for her cultural and religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment.
Disney Filed a Motion to Dismiss in May
In May, Disney filed a motion to dismiss the suit. The company argued that it has a “constitutional right not to associate its artistic expression with Carano’s speech.”
In their filing, Disney highlighted Carano’s social media post that compared the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to what modern American conservatives face as the final straw.
Walt Disney Company. Photo: Disney
“Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews,” she wrote. “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?”
Disney argued that Carnao’s post trivialized the Holocaust by referring to “thousands of Jews,” not “millions.”
Gina Carano. Photo: Also Lucasfilm
“Disney thus was entitled to protect its creative speech in the ‘Star Wars’ series from association with views Disney and many viewers (and potential viewers) considered offensive and contrary to Disney’s values,” the company’s lawyers wrote. “Carano’s presence as a prominent actor on ‘The Mandalorian’ interfered with Disney’s choice not to produce a show associated with her beliefs.”
Round 1 Goes to Carano
Yesterday, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett rejected Disney’s bid to dismiss the suit, ruling that Carano was hired to create television series and films, not to reflect the company’s values.
Gina Carano.Photo: Xavier Collin. Also Image Press Agency/Sipa USA
“Defendants have not identified any evidence—in the Complaint or otherwise—to substantiate a claim that they employ public-facing actors for the purpose of promoting the ‘values of respect,’ ‘decency,’ ‘integrity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” Judge Garnett wrote.
“Accordingly, Defendants’ invocation of the supposedly detrimental effects of Plaintiff’s ‘mere presence’ as one of Defendants’ employees lacks constitutional import.”
Photo: Also Lucasfilm. Gina Carano is Cara Dune
With Disney’s motion to dismiss now denied, it looks like the case will head to trial. While the first battle has been settled, more are certainly on the horizon. Stay tuned.
